Bifurcations and chaos in the three-level model of a laser with coherent optical pumping

A three-level laser model, taking into account coherent interaction of pump and generated field, is discussed. Possible simplifications of this model are discussed for some particular cases. The characteristic features of a general model and its simplified version, a Lorentz model, are investigated using computation methods. The obtained results are compared with the known data of experimental investigations of optically pumped molecular lasers.