CONTENTS Preface xili Units and Notation XV List of Symbols xvii BASIC LASER PHYSICS 1.An Introduction to Lasers 1 2. Stimulated Transitions:The Classical Oscillator Model 80 3. Electric Dipole Transitions in Real Atoms 118 4. Atomic Rate Equations 176 5. The Rabi Frequency 221 6. Laser Pumping and Population Inversion 243 7.Laser Amplification 264 8. More On Laser Amplification 307 9. Linear Pulse Propagation 331 10. Nonlinear Optical Pulse Propagation 362 11. Laser Mirrors and Regenerative Feedback 398 12. Fundamentals of Laser Oscillation 457 13. Oscillation Dynamics and Oscillation Threshold 491 OPTICAL BEAMS AND RESONATORS 14.Optical Beams and Resonators:An Introduction 558 15.Ray Optics and Ray Matrices 581 16. Wave Optics and Gaussian Beams 626 17.Physical Properties of Gaussian Beams 663 18. Beam Perturbation and Diffraction 698 19. Stable Two-Mirror Resonators 744 20. Complex Paraxial Wave Optics 777 21. Generalized Paraxial Resonator Theory 815 22. Unstable Optical Resonators 858 23.More on Unstable Resonators 891 LASER DYNAMICS AND ADVANCED TOPICS 24.Laser Dynamics:The Laser Cavity Equations 923 25.Laser Spiking and Mode Competition 954 26.Laser Q-Switching 1004 27.Active Laser Mode Coupling 1041 28. Passive Mode Locking 1104 29. Laser Injection Locking 1129 30.Hole Burning and Saturation Spectroscopy 1171 31.Magnetic-Dipole Transitions 1213