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We present a fully quantum mechanical treatment of resonant scattering of gamma radiation in a nuclear Λ-scheme. Simulations of the closed-form solution for the radiation intensity for N effective scatterers contributions are compared with Mössbauer spectra of FeCO3. It is shown that, although the nuclear level mixing scheme does not fulfill EIT conditions, the observable effects are similar. The change in polarization of the scattered radiation, due to level mixing, gives rise to the development of a strong complementary polarization state which is delayed with respect to the incident photon and to a reduction in absorption because this state does not interfere with the incident photon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have observed the effect of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a nuclear system. A series of Mössbauer measurements was performed on a single crystal of natural FeCO3. When the condition of nuclear level crossing is fulfilled, a clear reduction in absorption or transparency is seen at the point of level crossing. This reduced absorption cannot be ascribed to saturation effects because of the specific geometry of the experiment. We present an explanation in terms of level mixing by a small non-axial component of the electric field gradient. It can be shown that such a scheme is equivalent, at least in principle, with the schemes considered for EIT in quantum optics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]