From Optical Tristability to Chaos

Numerical evidence is presented for period doubling and chaos at attainable laser powers in a model for optical tristability comprising two ring-cavity modes coupled via a $J=\frac{1}{2}$ to $J=\frac{1}{2}$ transition. A sequence of periodic windows found embedded in the chaos for this model has also been found in the Lorenz equations. It is suggested that it begins an infinite sequence of a new period-doubling type.