Applications of nonperturbative nonlinear optics

The Liouville equation for the density matrix can be recast so that the external field terms which couple density matrix elements are second order in the field. This approach is shown to have a profound effect on the analysis of strong field resonant nonlinear optical problems. First, in the case where parity or appropriate field restrictions apply, there is a reduction of the number of coupled equations which must be solved by at least a factor of two. Second, this reformulation naturally leads to radiative renormalization terms which are directly related to saturation, Stark shifts and Rabi splittings. The renormalization is equivalent to a Dyson equation analysis. We use this simple formalism to obtain exact solutions to a number of nonlinear optical problems including cases where there are two or more strong, resonant fields. These problems include: 1) two levels, two strong fields, 2) three levels, two strong fields, and 3) four levels, three and four strong fields. Discussed in detail are the two level case and the three and four level cases where weak fields couple the ground state to other states. We use these results to discuss the physics of optically induced transparency, population beats, optical switching in quantum wells, and fully resonant coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS)