Linear stability analysis for bifurcations in spatially extended systems with fluctuating control parameter

We study the threshold in systems which exhibit a symmetry breaking instability, described by a PDE that is of first order in time like the Ginzburg-Landau or Swift-Hohenberg equation, with the control parameter fluctuating in space and time. From the zero-dimensional case it is known that due to the long tails of the probability distributions all the moments of the linearized equation have different thresholds and none of them coincides with the threshold of the full nonlinear equation, which in fact has no noise-induced shift. We show that in the spatially extended case and with noise of finite correlation length there is a noise-induced threshold shift. At linear order in the fluctuation strength ε the threshold coincides with that of the first (and second) moment of the linearized equation. At order ε² differences in the thresholds arise. We introduce a method to obtain the threshold of the full system up to order ε² from the stability exponents of the first and second moment of the linearized equations. A preliminary account of this work has been given elsewhere [A. Becker and L. Kramer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 73 (1994) 955].     

Global rate equation description of a laser

The global integro-differential rate equations describing a multimode laser are analyzed. Expressions for the relaxation oscillation frequencies and their damping rates in the single-mode and two-mode regimes are obtained without specifying either the cavity geometry or the longitudinal pump profile. On the same level of generality, we prove the existence of universal relations relating the peaks of the power spectra in the two-mode regime. For a Fabry-Perot with arbitrary longitudinal pump profile, series expansions of all the physical functions are derived in powers of the pump moments. These moments are averages of the pump profile over cavity modes at linear combinations of the lasing frequencies and their harmonics. These results apply to end-pumped and/or partially filled lasers. For a single mode Fabry-Perot laser, we prove that the contribution to the steady state intensity from the lasing mode varies from 75% close to the lasing threshold to zero at high intensity. The remainder comes from the harmonics of the lasing mode. Analyzing the steady state single mode intensity equation in terms of the pump gratings, we prove that close to the lasing threshold only the space average of the pump and its grating oscillating at twice the lasing wave number do not vanish. This provides a hint towards the justification of the usual modal rate equations which retain only these two functions in the dynamical evolution of a laser. For a Fabry-Perot with constant pump profile, an exact expression for the upper boundary of the stable single mode regime is derived. In that two-mode regime, we prove that there is a critical value of the pump at which the ratio of the two relaxation oscillation frequencies is 2, leading to an internal resonance.     

Frequency degenerate and non-degenerate nonlinear regimes for semi-linear photorefractive oscillator

We present a theoretical analysis, analytical and numerical, of the oscillation regimes for the semi-linear photorefractive oscillator beyond the instability threshold. This analysis includes the limiting cases of dominating transmission and reflection gratings as well as the cases of spontaneous violation of the frequency degeneracy between the oscillation and pump waves.     

Quantum correlations close to a square pattern forming instability

We analyze the quantum fluctuations of the degenerate optical parametric oscillator close to an instability for the formation of a square pattern. While strong correlations between the fluctuations of the signal modes emitted at the critical wave number and with opposite wave vector are present both below and above threshold, no features signaling the square character of the pattern forming above threshold have been identified below threshold in the spatio-temporal second-order coherence. We also explore in which regimes a reduced few mode model gives meaningful results. Received 17 September 2002 / Received in final form 11 November 2002 Published online 26 February 2003     

Bistable behaviour in squeezed vacua: II. Stability analysis and chaos

Linear stability analysis and (numerical) investigation of the periodic and chaotic self-pulsing behaviour are presented for the Maxwell-Bloch equations of a bistable model in contact with a squeezed vacuum field. Effect of the squeeze phase parameter on the period doubling bifurcation that preceeds chaos is examined for the adiabatic and non-adiabatic regimes.     

Threshold behavior of semi-linear photorefractive oscillator

A general analysis of the threshold behavior for the photorefractive semi-linear oscillator is performed within the linear approximation on the basis of the classical wave-coupling model. This analysis shows that the well known particular results on the frequency degenerate oscillation are valid only within a restricted range of the external parameters. The theory specifies the conditions for onset and properties of the frequency non-degenerate oscillations, including the necessary values of the coupling strength, pump intensity ratio, the increments of the instability, and the frequency splits. Important generalizations of the basic model are considered.     

Light-induced instabilities driven by competing helical patterns in long-pitch cholesterics

We study theoretically the dynamical reorientation phenomena when a long-pitch cholesteric liquid-crystal film with homeotropic alignment is illuminated by a circularly polarized lightwave. In the present case, the natural cholesteric pitch is of the order of (or larger than) the film thickness. The helical cholesteric structure is thus frustrated by the boundary conditions without illumination. However, above a light intensity threshold reorientation occurs and the bifurcation scenario depends strongly on the natural cholesteric pitch. Recalling that a long-pitch cholesteric is achieved in practice by adding a small amount of chiral agents in a nematic liquid crystal, the observed dynamics can be viewed as the result of the competition between intrinsic and extrinsic unidimensional helical patterns. The intrinsic part consists of the helical deformations induced by the chirality of the dopant, whereas the extrinsic part is related to the chirality induced by the optical field through the non-uniform angular momentum transfer of light to a nematic. The all-optical analog in the case of a pure nematic (without chiral dopant), is also discussed.     

Eddy diffusivity in convective hydromagnetic systems

An eigenvalue equation, for linear instability modes involving large scales in a convective hydromagnetic system, is derived in the framework of multiscale analysis. We consider a horizontal layer with electrically conducting boundaries, kept at fixed temperatures and with free surface boundary conditions for the velocity field; periodicity in horizontal directions is assumed. The steady states must be stable to short (fast) scale perturbations and possess symmetry about the vertical axis, allowing instabilities involving large (slow) scales to develop. We expand the modes and their growth rates in power series in the scale separation parameter and obtain a hierarchy of equations, which are solved numerically. Second order solvability condition yields a closed equation for the leading terms of the asymptotic expansions and respective growth rate, whose origin is in the (combined) eddy diffusivity phenomenon. For about 10% of randomly generated steady convective hydromagnetic regimes, negative eddy diffusivity is found.     

Modification of instability processes by multiplicative noises

We study two dynamical systems submitted to white and Gaussian random noise acting multiplicatively. The first system is an imperfect pitchfork bifurcation with a noisy departure from onset. The second system is a pitchfork bifurcation in which the noise acts multiplicatively on the non-linear term of lowest order. In both cases noise suppresses some solutions that exist in the deterministic regime. Besides, for the first system, the imperfectness of the bifurcation reduces the regime of on-off intermittency. For the second system, the unstable mode can achieve a jump of finite amplitude at instability but without hysteresis. We finally identify a generic property that is verified by the stationary probability density function of the dynamical variable when a control parameter is varied.     

Multiquadric Finite Difference (MQ-FD) Method and Its Application

The conventional finite difference (FD) schemes are based on the low order polynomial approximation in a local region. This paper shows that when the polynomial approximation is replaced by the multiquadric (MQ) function approximation in the same region, a new FD method, which is termed as MQ-FD method in this work, can be developed. The paper gives analytical formulas of the MQ-FD method and carries out a performance study for its derivative approximation and solution of Poisson equation and the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. In addition, the effect of the shape parameter $c$ in MQ on the formulas of the MQ-FD method is analyzed. Derivative approximation in one-dimensional space and Poisson equation in two-dimensional space are taken as model problems to study the accuracy of the MQ-FD method. Furthermore, a lid-driven flow problem in a square cavity is simulated by the MQ-FD method. The obtained results indicate that this method may solve the engineering problem very accurately with a proper choice of the shape parameter $c$.     

Bistable behaviour in squeezed vacua: I. Stationary analysis

A time-independent theoretical and numerical analysis of an optical bistable model of two-level atoms in a ring cavity, driven by a coherent field and in contact with a squeezed vacuum field is presented in the two cases of absorptive and dispersive optical bistability (OB). In the former case, a suitable choice of the phase of the squeezed vacuum field reduces the threshold for OB to occur compared with the normal vacuum case. In the latter case, regions of OB are identified as one or two disconnected simple closed curves depending on the cooperation parameter [0pt] : is the maximum possible value of the critical value of C at fixed values of the squeezed vacuum field parameters. Phase switching effects between different (output) states of the system is investigated in detail. In the absorptive case, one- or two-way optical switching is possible depending on [0pt] . We also present results which demonstrate more complicated switching behaviour in the dispersive case. Received 12 March 1999 and Received in final form 20 August 1999     

Thermomechanical effects in uniformly aligned dye-doped nematic liquid crystals

We show theoretically that thermomechanical effects in dye-doped nematic liquid crystals when illuminated by laser beams, can become important and lead to molecular reorientation at intensities substantially lower than that needed for optical Fréedericksz transition. We propose a 1D model that assumes homogenous intensity distribution in the plane of the layer and is capable to describe such a thermally induced threshold lowering. We consider a particular geometry, with a linearly polarized light incident perpendicularly on a layer of homeotropically aligned dye-doped nematics.     

The pulse shape of a passively Q-switched microchip laser

The shape of the intensity pulse of a passively Q-switched microchip laser is investigated numerically and analytically. Our analysis is motivated by independent microchip laser experiments exhibiting nearly symmetric pulses in the case of a semiconductor saturable absorber and asymmetric pulses in the case of a solid state saturable absorber. Asymptotic methods are used to determine limiting behaviors of the pulse shape for both symmetric and asymmetric pulses. In the first case, we determine a sech² solution parametrized by one parameter which can be determined by solving two coupled nonlinear algebraic equations. In the second case, the pulse solution is decomposed into two distinct approximations exhibiting different amplitude and time scales properties. We review earlier approximations of the repetition rate and the pulse width. Received 2 August 1999     

Modulational instability in asymmetric coupled wave functions

The evolution of the amplitude of two nonlinearly interacting waves is considered, via a set of coupled nonlinear Schr?dinger-type equations. The dynamical profile is determined by the wave dispersion laws (i.e. the group velocities and the group velocity dispersion terms) and the nonlinearity and coupling coefficients, on which no assumption is made. A generalized dispersion relation is obtained, relating the frequency and wave-number of a small perturbation around a coupled monochromatic (Stokes') wave solution. Explicitly stability criteria are obtained. The analysis reveals a number of possibilities. Two (individually) stable systems may be destabilized due to coupling. Unstable systems may, when coupled, present an enhanced instability growth rate, for an extended wave number range of values. Distinct unstable wavenumber windows may arise simultaneously.