  We consider the model of the optical switching center - a system with the
following properties: It has two (or more) metastable states |1>, |2>,
separated by a potential barrier U; it can switch from one state to another by
absorbing the photons with energy proportional to U; the transition from |1> to
|2> is allowed only for a certain light wave polarization p_1 and the
transition from |2> to |1> - for other polarization p_2; these polarizations
p_1, p_2 are orthogonal. The optical properties of this system are studied and
are found to exhibit unconventional polarization dependence. In particular, the
absorption spectrum observed in natural (unpolarized) light can display new
features, that are absent in the spectra, obtained in two independent
polarizations. We discuss these results in connexion with the (yet unexplained)
experimental findings (Ref.1), where the similar anomalous polarization
dependence of the absorption spectra of cupric monoxide CuO after the fast
particle bombardment is reported.
