Coherent absorption in a homogeneously broadened medium

An investigation of the propagation properties of a short pulse in a resonant absorber with a homogeneously broadened transition is presented with two main questions in mind: 1) the influence of the input pulse area on the transitory regime and on the steady-state propagation; 2) the effects of atomic coherence on the pulse shaping and the time delay of the leading edge of the pulse. The transitory regime of a propagating pulse is investigated and the stability of some asymptotic wave form confirmed. As expected, the transversal relaxation mechanism affects critically the major features of the coherent interaction. A detailed analysis of this problem is also presented.