Multi-longitudinal mode emission in a bidirectional laser model

Multi-longitudinal mode emission is a fundamental issue in laser physics. Interestingly enough, the mechanisms responsible for the transition from single- to multi-longitudinal mode emission have not been completely clarified yet. For example, it is well known that in unidirectional ring lasers the Rabi splitting of the lasing transition can lead to multimode emission even in a homogeneously broadened medium, the so called Risken-Nummedal—Graham-Haken instability (RNGHI) [1]. In spite of being known since the late sixties, only in the recent years a couple of experiments have demonstrated “dressed” versions of the RNGHI [2], i.e., up to day there are not clear demonstrations of this basic m…