  Frequency-domain nonlinear wave mixing processes may be described either
using response functions whereby the signal is generated after all interactions
with the incoming fields, or in terms of scattering amplitudes where all fields
are treated symetrically with no specific time ordering. Closed Green's
function expressions derived for the two types of signals have different
analytical properties. The recent controversy regarding the sign of radiative
damping in the linear (Kramers Heisenberg) formula is put in a broader context.
