INTERMITTENT AND QUASI-PERIODIC BEHAVIOR IN A ZEEMAN LASER MODEL WITHLARGE CAVITY ANISOTROPY

The stability and dynamic behavior of a two-level, J = 0 <-> J = 1, Ze eman laser model is investigated in the limit of large cavity anisotro py. The stability of the steady-state solutions is governed by two dif ferent Hopf bifurcations, one affecting the polarization state of the laser light and the other affecting the intensity dynamics. Above thes e bifurcations the dynamic behavior exhibited by the model is extremel y rich. It has been found that the routes to chaos almost always invol ve quasiperiodic as well as intermittent dynamics. When this quasiperi odic behavior is locked, type-I and -II intermittencies have been iden tified. When unlocked, the torus can destabilize through two different scenarios leading to chaos: a ''quasiperiodic intermittency'' or a ca scade of period-doubling bifurcations. On-off intermittency has also b een found.