Abstract

Optically pumped molecular lasers (OPML) have been suggested recently as possible candidates for the observation of Lorenz type chaos in a laser system. Efforts have been made to truncate the larger system of coupled ODE's to a set of three [1], a truncation that we feel is not physically justified [2]. It does not appear to be appreciated in the laser theory literature that larger systems of coupled ODE's or even partial differential equations (PDE's) may exhibit Lorenz-type chaotic behaviour in some parameter window making unphysical truncation unnecessary. We contend that OPML lasers themselves represent the canonical laser dynamical system retaining, as we shall show, simplicity in the underlying physics while being amenable to a dynamical systems analysis at a level of say the Lorenz equations. Moreover, new nonlinear dynamical features emerge which can be directly related to the distinct physical processes operative in the laser. The wealth of novel nonlinear dynamical behaviour which emerges at parameter values readily achievable in experimental OPML systems makes the recent experimental observations by Weiss et al [3] particularly relevant.

© 1988 Optical Society of America