Atomic orientation effects in light scattering due to dissipative processes

It is shown that new effects in light scattering by oriented atoms and in orientation of an unpolarized atomic target due to the light scattering arise when channels of dissipation for the light energy are open. Thus, in scattering of linearly-polarized or unpolarized light, the degree of linear polarization and the angular distribution of scattered light depend on the initial atomic orientation. On the other hand, the orientation of unpolarized atoms appears in the scattering of unpolarized photons without registration of the scattered photon polarization. The orientation vector is perpendicular to the scattering plane, and the effect can be observed in a coincidence experiment.