Superfluorescence pulse shape

The present investigation has the objective to develop a theory of the nonlinear stage of superfluorescence, taking into account the case in which this phenomenon can be described by one-dimensional semiclassical Maxwell-Bloch equations. One application of this theory is related to an explanation to experiments in which superfluorescence was observed in beams of cesium atoms. It is shown that the development of quantum fluctuations in an unstable population-inverted medium results in the formation of a pulse. The superfluorescence pulse in a laser without mirrors has a universal self-similar shape, which is determined by a single parameter, the pulse delay time.