Predicted response of an atom to a short burst of electro-magnetic radiation

In this work, we present a hypothesis that spectral response of atoms or molecules to a pulse of electro-magnetic radiation with fast rising or falling fronts would contain a unique emission line that is located approximately near the frequency of the natural oscillations of optical electrons. The emission of this “pinging” spectral line would exist during the time that is determined by the time of radiative energy loss by the optical electron. The amplitude of the “pinging” spectral line would be higher for the pulses with faster rising or falling fronts. The simulations using our previously developed model confirmed existence of the “pinging” spectral response. If experimentally confirmed, this work could lead to a new high sensitivity, high signal to noise ratio stand-off detection techniques, and to other yet unknown applications.