Experimental evidence of subharmonic bifurcations, multistability, and turbulence in a Q-switched gas laser

Subharmonic bifurcations, generalized multistability, and chaotic behavior were found experimentally in a Q-switched CO2 laser operating at 10.6 ?m. Jumps between two strange attractors lead to a low-frequency (1f type) divergence in the power spectrum. This is the first experimental evidence of these phenomena in a quantum-optical molecular system. A theoretical model is also presented whose results are in good agreement with the experimental data. © 1982 The American Physical Society.