DYNAMICS OF A LARGE ARRAY OF GLOBALLY COUPLED LASERS WITH DISTRIBUTED FREQUENCIES

Abstract

We analyze a mean-field model for a large array of coupled solid-state lasers with randomly distributed natural frequencies. Using techniques developed previously for coupled nonlinear oscillators, we derive exact formulas for the stability boundaries of the phase locked, incoherent, and off states, as functions of the coupling and pump strength and the spread of natural frequencies. For parameters in the intermediate regime between total incoherence and perfect phase locking, numerical simulations reveal a variety of unsteady collective states in which all the lasers' intensities vary periodically, quasiperiodically, or chaotically.