Laser Ginzburg-Landau equation and laser hydrodynamics

Abstract

A laser Ginzburg-Landau equation with fourth- and higher-order diffusion terms is derived from the Maxwell-Bloch equations describing a laser. It is shown that the higher-order diffusion terms in the laser Ginzburg-Landau equation are crucial for the transverse structure formation. Laser-hydrodynamical equations are derived, and the correspondence between laser light dynamics and the dynamics of a compressible, viscous, quantized fluid is demonstrated.