HORSESHOE CHAOS IN A BISTABLE OPTICAL-SYSTEM, UNDER A MODULATED INCIDENT FIELD

It is shown analytically and numerically that a single-mode bistable o ptical system, under a modulated incident field, may undergo a chaotic al behavior of Smale horseshoe type. The threshold for the onset of ch aos and the bifurcating curves for nonlinear resonances are derived se mianalytically, by means of the Melnikov method, and numerically check ed. We also demonstrate the existence of multistable attractors. Two t ime-periodic states and a strange attractor are shown to coexist for a certain range of parameters.