In order to check theoretical results obtained recently in the treatment of the superradiant emission of atoms when taking the level degeneracy into account explicitly, an experiment has been performed using a special "multiple beam" of Rb atoms. A careful study of the polarization characteristics of the emitted light has shown us several features which appear to be quite different in the superradiant emission and in the ordinary spontaneous one. An analysis is given for the few typical cases which have been observed and reported.

• Received 9 June 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.41.1237