Influence Of Rapid Relaxation On Light Storage

By solving the self-consistent system of Maxwell and density matrix equations in the case when the relaxation time is much shorter than the pulse duration, we obtain an analytical solution for the probe pulse propagation. This solution allows, one to analyze the process of the information storage not only qualitatively, but also quantitatively. In particular, it explains the fact that in well-known experiments only fractions of pulses were stored. The conditions for effective storage are obtained.