Characteristics of stimulated Raman scattering in the presence of spatial degeneracy of levels

A theoretical analysis is made of the stimulated Raman scattering in gases in the presence of spatial degeneracy of the energy levels. Saturation of the population difference and influence of anti-Stokes radiation are allowed for. Various polarizations of the pump fields and of the Stokes and anti-Stokes radiation are considered. It is shown that the profile of the stimulated Raman line is generally a sum of three Lorentzian lines and the scattering includes scalar, symmetric, and antisymmetric components. The use of circularly polarized pump radiation suppresses the influence of anti-Stokes radiation on the gain of the Stokes wave.