Effects of coherently excited Zeeman transitions on a hydrogen maser hyperfine transition
The effects of transitions excited within the F = 1 multiplet of the ground state hydrogen atoms while radiating on the ΔmF = 0 transition are analyzed theoretically. The results are valid for low transition rates and unrestricted maser power. The predictions are: (a) an important modification of the well-known spin-exchange frequency shift of a hydrogen maser, due to the imaginary part of the spin-exchange cross section, (b) a frequency shift proportional to the asymmetry parameter between the 2-Zeeman frequencies in the upper multiplet F = 1, and (c) a frequency shift proportional to the polarization of the atoms in the storage bulb.Also shown is a displacement of the zero crossing of the maser detuning vs. the low frequency coherent transition frequency with respect to the dip of the maser absorption. This effect is visible for a maser tuned by spin-exchange and operated at a relatively high magnetic field and nonuniform Zeeman populations.An experimental verification of the theory is presented. A new method for tuning the hydrogen maser is suggested, and a proposal is made to measure the collisional frequency shift proportional to the average duration of hydrogen atom spin-exchange collisions.