Wave equation for dark coherence in three-level media

We report the derivation of a wave equation for coherence in "dark state" two-photon-resonance spectroscopy. One of its consequences is a dark state area theorem. The dark area theorem is a single ordinary differential equation which is globally equivalent, in a way we describe, to the full set of five coupled nonlinear partial differential equations that govern space-time evolution of two-pulse coherence in a lambda medium. The predictions of the dark area theorem are open to test via laser spectroscopy in dilute vapors and inhomogeneously broadened solids.