Volume 53A, number 1 PHYSICS LETTERS 19 May 1975

A N A L O G Y B E T W E E N H I G H E R I N S T A B I L I T I E S IN F L U I D S A N D L A S E R S

H. HAKEN
Institut flit theoretische Physik der Universitd'tStuttgart, Germany

Reoeived 10 April 1975

The Lorenz model of instabilities in fluids is shown to be identical with that of the single mode laser and applica-
ble to undamped laser spikes. Further instabilities connected with small-band excitations are also discussed.

It is known that the continuous mode laser close to
the laser threshold and a fluid close to the convection
instability can be described by Ginzburg-Landau equa-
tions [1,2]. The reasons for these results which estab-
lish a close analogy between lasers and fluids follow
from rather general principles and are discussed else-
where %. Recently, we have found a very detailed
analogy between fluids and lasers which goes far be-
yond what one could expect on general grounds %.
Beyond the interest by its own, this analogy has im-
mediate important applications to undamped spiking
in lasers and masers. Our investigation was triggered
by recent papers on instabilities of fluids by McLaugh-
lin and Martin [4] and we closely follow their nota-
tion.
We start from the usual equations of fluid dynam-
ics in the Boussinesq approximation [e.g. 5, 6] which
contain as variables the velocity field u = (Ul, u2, u3)
and the deviation 0 from a constant temperature gra-
client. We use dimensionless units and expand u into
Fourier series:
u/(x, y, z) =
= i/,m, n~=_® u/(l, m, n) exp {i(kllx+k2my+ncrz )}
and
0 correspondingly.
x, y are the horizontal coordinates and k 1, k 2 the
corresponding fundamental wave vectors, z is the ver-
tical coordinate. To obtain the Lorenz model [7], we
retain only Ul(l, 0, I) --- Ul01,0(I, 0, I) = 0101,
* A brief account was given at the Spring Meeting of the
German Phys. Society, Miinster, March 1975.
0(0, 0, 2) = 0002. (This choice of components corre-
sponds to a motion of convection roils in the x-z
plane). Inserting (1) and (2) into the above men-
tioned equations one obtains (after a slight "renor-
malization" of variables (see ref. [4]):
t~101 = o0101 -- aUl01
(3)
, 2
+ [{ioa(a/ax) + oa V 2} Ulol],
/9101 = - Ulol°o02 + rUlol - °101
(4)
+ [{ia(~)/Ox) +a'V2}Olox ] ,
• ' 2
0002 = U1010101 - b0002 + [a V20002]. (5)
o = v/r' is the Prandtl number (where v is the kine-
matic viscosity, r ' the thermometric conductivity);
r = R / R e (where R is the Rayleigh number, R e the
critical Rayleigh number), b = 41r2/0r 2 + k~). The
terms in brackets have been added by us. They occur
if we allow for slowly varying amplitudes u/(l, m, n),
0(l, m, n), in the sense of Newel1 and Whitehead [8].
(1)
a = 2 k l ( k l2 +Ir2) -1 , a' =(k21 + ~.2)-1,
and
V2 _- a2/ax 2 + o2/ay2.
(2)
We first neglect the terms in brackets and put Ul01 = ~,
0101 = ¢/, 0002 = r - ~', which yields
We now describe the laser equations assuming the laser
field propagating in x direction and polarized. We de-
compose the field strength E as

77
Volume 53A, number 1 PHYSICS LETTERS
E(x, t) = E~(x, t) exp {iW o ( t - x / c ) } + c.c.
and the polarization P correspondingly.
600 is the atomic transition frequency and c the light
velocity in the medium. Using the rotating wave ap-
proximation and the slowly varying amplitude ap-
proximation, the laser equations read [9]
g = KP - KE - [c~E/~x]
$ in brackets in (7) and (3). They give rise to a dif-
e = 3'ED - 3'J~
/~ = 3'jl(h+ 1) - 3,110 -3'U ~ p "
Following~ RJ~sken and Nummedal [10], we have
normalized E, P, and the inversion D by dividing
/~ ~, D by their c.w. values, r is the cavity loss, 3' the
linewidth, 3'11the inverse longitudinal relaxation time,
X = (D o - Dc)/D c, where Do, D c are the unsaturated
and critical inversion, respectively. If 3E/Ox = 0, eqs.
( 7 ) - ( 9 ) reduce to those of the single mode laser, if
collective atomic coordinates are used and phases put
= 0 [11,12]. In this case, eqs. ( 7 ) - ( 9 ) are identical
with that of the Lorenz model in the form (6), which
can be realized by the following identifications:
t "-~t'tT/K, /~--~ Ot~, where a = { b ( r - 1 ) } -1/2, r > l ,
P-~ arl, D-~ ~, 3"11= rb/e, 3" = r/o, h = r - 1.
Eqs. (6)describe at least two instabilities which have
been found independently in fluid dynamics and in
lasers. For ?~< 0 (r < 1) there is no laser action (the
fluid is at rest), for ?~>0 (r~> 1) laser action (convec-
tive motion starts) with stable, time-independent so-
lutions ~, r?, ~'. Besides this well known "classical" in-
stability, a new one occurs provided K > 3' + 3'11,
( o > b + 1) and h > (7+7tl +K)(3"+K)/7(K--3"--3"11),
{r > a ( o + b + 3 ) / ( o - 1 - b ) ) *. (For lasers see [12],
for fluids [4, 7]). While it has been noted [12] that
this instability gives rise to undamped laser spikes,
its detailed features remained unexplained in this
field. In fluid dynamics, its nature could be clarified
* Note that in both cases the parameters h and r can be ex-
perimentally varied (h by the pump, r by the temperature
gradient).
78
19 May 1975
to a large extent by a machine calculation by Lorenz
[7] and a detailed analysis using the concept of "in-
verted bifurcation" by McLaughlin and Martin [4].
The most important result is that spiking occurs ran-
domly though the equations are completely determi-
nistic. (For more details see [4, 7]). While the above
instability condition cannot be met in realistic fluids,
it can be fulfilled in lasers and masers in high-loss
cavities.
(7)
In conclusion, we mention the impact of the terms
(8) ferent class of instabilities [1, 10] which have been
treated by a machine calculation [10] and by a gener-
(9) alized bifurcation theory (including noise) [3]. Though
the first order derivation in (3) differs from that of
(7) by the imaginary unit, both terms cause an insta-
bility at corresponding values of ?, and r. A detailed
discussion which uses, among others, a mode expan-
sion of E and/~ of the form (1) will be published else-
where, relating it to [4] and work by Busse [13].
References
[1] R. Graham and H. Haken, Z. Physik 210 (1968) 276;
237 (1970) 31;
H. Haken, in Advances in solid state physics, ed. O.
Madelung (Vieweg-Pergamon, 1970).
[2] R. Graham, Phys. Rev. Lett. 31 (1973) 1479; Phys.
Rev. 10 (1974) 1762;
H. Haken, Phys. Lett. A46 (1973) 193; Rev. Mod.
Phys. 47 (1975) 67.
[3] H. Haken, Z. Physik, in press.
[4] J.B. McLaughlin and P.C. Martin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 33
(1974) 1189, and preprint 1975.
[5] A.S. Monin and A.M. Yagiom, Statistical fluid me-
chanics, Vol. I (M.I.T. Press, 1971).
[6] H. Haken, ref. [2].
[7] E.N. Lorenz, J. Atmos. Sci. 20 (1963) 130.
[8] A. Newell and J. Whitehead, J. Fluid Mech. 38 (1969)
279.
[9] H. Haken, Laser theory, Encyclopedia of Physics,
XXV/2c (Springer, New York, 1970).
[10] H. Risken and K. Nummedal, Phys. Lett. 26A (1968)
275; J. Appl. Phys. 39 (1968) 4662.
[11] H. Haken and H. Sauermann, Z. Physik 173 (1963) 261;
176 (1963) 47;
H. Haken, Z. Physik 181 (1964) 96.
[12] H. Haken, Z. Physik 190 (1966) 327.
[13] F.H. Busse, J. Fluid Mech. 52 (1972) 1, 97.