Observation of vector and tensor light shifts in 87Rb using near-resonant, stimulated Raman spectroscopy

We present the derivation of the frequency dependent scalar, vector, and tensor dynamical polarizabilities for the two hyperfine levels of the 87Rb atom 5s ground state. Based on the characterization of the dynamical polarizabilities, we analyze and measure the differential vector and tensor light shift between the 5s ground state sub-levels with near-resonant, stimulated Raman transitions. These results clarify that the tensor polarizabilities for the ground states of alkali atoms are absent when the light field is far-detuned from the atomic resonance and the total electronic angular momentum J is a good quantum number. In the near resonant case, the light shifts are non-trivial and the determination of the frequency dependent vector and tensor dynamic polarizabilities will help to achieve higher fidelities for applications of neutral atoms in quantum information and precision measurements.