Bifurcations and multistability in two-photon processes

Abstract

We consider an intracavity nonlinear medium interacting with two modes of the electromagnetic field via a two-photon process. The cavity is coherently driven at the frequencies of the two modes. We consider as the intracavity medium (a) a two-photon absorber, and (b) $N$ three-level atoms. These systems display a new class of bifurcations, and, in the case of the two-photon absorber, optical tristability is possible.