Behavior of two-level atom driven by pulsed radiation

The problem of a two-level atom interacting with a nonmonochromatic radiation pulse is studied both with and without the resonant approximation. Using the time-dependent perturbation theory, the analytical expressions for transition probability of the atom are obtained. It is shown how, depending on the value of the field strength, the atom's excitation probability can be obtained with the needed accuracy. It is shown that the upper level population of the atom exhibits oscillations which are absent in the resonant approximation. It is shown that absorption probability and dipole moment spectrum are governed by interference between the spectral components of a non- monochromatic radiation involved in nonlinear interaction process. Spectral distribution symmetry with respect to the resonance frequency being destroyed, the atom can be excited even if there is no resonant component in the pulse spectrum.