Nonstationary generation in free electron lasers

Evolution of the alternating field structure in the high- Q multimode cavity excited by the beam of relativistic electron oscillators is described by a self-consistent set of equations. Stationary and pulse injection regimes are investigated. The injection current increasing over the threshold, three consecutive stages take place: a) stationary single-mode generation (or, correspondingly, generation of identical pulses), b) periodic and c) stochastic self-modulation.