English

Ultra-slow dynamics of free-running ring lasers: towards a minimal model

Optics 2023-11-27 v1 Chaotic Dynamics

Abstract

The dynamics of a resonant, free-running ring laser, in the common case of a fast relaxation of the atomic polarization, is unexpectedly highly singular. As shown in [Phys. Rev. Research, {\bf 5}, 023059 (2023)], this is due to the closeness to a pure Hamiltonian dynamics ruled by a nonlinear wave equation, herein named Klein-Gordon-Toda model. In this paper, we derive a quasi-Hamiltonian model which allows describing realistic systems. In particular, we identify two nearly conserved, energy-like quantities, which ``naturally" exhibit an ultra-slow dynamics confirmed and highlighted by numerical simulations. A minimal version of the quasi-Hamiltonian model is finally derived, which does not only reproduce the laser thresholds, but also helps understanding the origin of the nearly integrable character of the laser dynamics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2311.14504,
  title  = {Ultra-slow dynamics of free-running ring lasers: towards a minimal model},
  author = {Giovanni Giacomelli and Antonio Politi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.14504},
  year   = {2023}
}