Light slowing-down effects caused by nonlinear interactions of radiations in two-level systems

The effect of slowing down pulses of probe radiation in a medium consisting of two-level quantum systems whose longitudinal and transverse relaxation times strongly differ is studied. The conditions for the occurrence of “slow light” in a transparency window are obtained. Regimes are discovered in which the medium becomes transparent or amplifies the probe radiation, with the high dispersion of the refractive index being conserved. The parameters at which the delay time of the probe radiation reaches a maximum or the group velocity of this radiation decreases to a maximal possible value under the condition of exact resonance with the strong field are found.