Feature

Optical resonators, mode competition, and associative memory

Dana Z. Anderson

The mathematical description of the laser is of a rather universal character that emerges in many fields of science. The same mathematics has been applied to the interaction among neurons forming a network to model brain behavior and cognitive function. That these two systems share a common mathematical heritage leads one to wonder whether one can extract useful brain-like behavior from a laser or a similar nonlinear optical system. Some recent work with holographic optical resonators has been motivated by precisely this notion.

Publish Date: 01 December 1987