Effects of Degeneracy on Self-Induced Transparency

Abstract
The effects of degeneracy on self-induced transparency (SIT) have been studied using optical pulses gated from a cw dye laser and four different degenerate systems in Na. Delays, nonlinear transmission, peaking, and breakup were altered only slightly by degeneracy. This unexpected insensitivity to degeneracy of SIT features is in agreement with the McCall-Hahn pulse-area, pulse-energy description, computer simulations, and a simple physical explanation of general applicability.