Dynamics of the cryogenic hydrogen maser

Abstract

We examine the dynamical behavior of the cryogenic hydrogen maser. Studying the coupled field-matter equations, which have been reduced to the complex Lorenz equations, we obtain two operating domains, one in which steady-state oscillation takes place and a time-dependent domain that is characterized by a pulsed output power. For the latter we obtain bifurcation diagrams, both with and without detuning, that display both periodic and chaotic attractors. Finally, we study the influence of thermal noise on this time-dependent domain and show that for reasonable experimental conditions the pulse triggering will be stochastic, but the pulse buildup and decay can be deterministic.