Three-component superposition states of light in a dissipative medium

The process of the simultaneous absorption of three photons in a medium possessing weak one-photon absorption is analyzed. The mode experiencing absorption is perturbed externally via a three-photon parametric process. It is shown that a steady-state, three-component superposition state of light can exist in this system in the range where the amplitude of the state is small (small perturbations of the system). The latter condition is due to the fact that, in this range of interactions, the field spends significantly more time in one of three types of superposition states of light that form an ensemble of quantum trajectories of the system than in the other two.