Abstract

Sodium-filled Fabry-Perot resonators display a rich variety of nonlinear dynamic phenomena in a way convenient for experimentalists. They thus might serve as model systems for nonlinear dynamics in a passive optical system; unfortunately, however, the full interpretation usually presents unsolved problems unless a high-buffer-gas pressure is used. We report on novel experiments, which have been performed in an argon atmosphere of 3 × 10⁴ Pa; they can be interpreted by a simple theoretical model.¹ We focus (1) on the influence of white and colored external noise on the transient behavior and (2) on the deterministic behavior in the presence of a transverse static magnetic field; here new results in connection with magnetically induced self-oscillations are presented, including a new type of delay-induced instability.

© 1986 Optical Society of America