Deterministic chaos and dynamical instabilities in a multimode cw dye laser

Abstract

The dynamics of a cw pumped, multimode dye laser system have been experimentally investigated by measuring the mode correlation times $t_{\mathrm{mode}}$, the second-order dimension $D_2$ of the attractor of the system, and the corresponding second-order entropy $K_2$. Dynamical instabilities have been observed as discontinuous changes of $t_{\mathrm{mode}}$, $D_2$, and $K_2$ at distinct values of the spectral power density P/Δλ. Over the whole investigated range of P/Δλ, the analysis of the experimental data yields sufficient conditions for deterministic chaos. The dimensionality of the system and its degree of chaos have been found to depend on the spectral power density. The contributions of stochastic and of chaotic processes to the limited mode correlation time have been unraveled.