Abstract

We explore the dynamic behavior of a monovelocity atomic beam. The equations describing the monovelocity atomic beam are similar to the Maxwell-Bloch equations. The steady-state, linear stability analysis, and dynamics verify that hysteresis, bistability, and even multistability of the output intensity exist in this system. Comparison of the loss–gain bifurcation curve of this system to the original maser model shows that the instability asymptote for the monovelocity atomic beam is κ = 0 where κ represents the loss parameter while the maser model asymptotes at κ > 1.

© 1991 Optical Society of America