Bunching-induced asymmetry in degenerate four-wave mixing with cold atoms

We have investigated degenerate four-wave mixing in a sample of cold rubidium atoms. A red-blue asymmetry is observed for high intensities of the pumping beams. This asymmetry is explained by the spatial bunching of the atoms in the nodes or antinodes of the strong standing wave of the pump beams. This explanation is confirmed by different experimental configurations and by numerical simulations.