No abstract

It is shown that non-laser radiation with a broad-band spectrum can induce a drift of optically absorbing multi-level atoms through buffer gas and separate them. It is not necessary 10 have a mixture of absorbing species Io farm an asymmetry in the initially Rat light spectrum with respect to the atomic resonances. The spectrum asymmetry required for a velocity-selective excitation of the atoms may be formed in the propagating light due to the difference in absorption indenes at nearby transitions o f t h e same species. A set of kinetic equations for coupled light and panicles is presented. Numerical analysis of the problem and estimations are done for several typical cases.