Self-rotation of elliptically polarized light in Doppler-broadened rubidium atoms

We present a theoretical and experimental study of self-rotation of incident elliptically polarized light on a rubidium atomic vapor. We construct density matrix equations, which are then solved numerically, and further averaged over atomic transit times and a Maxwell–Boltzmann velocity distribution. We calculate the rotation angle as a function of detuning for various laser intensities and polarizations. We compare the calculated results with experimental results and find good agreement between them.