Lifetime of chaotic attractors in a multidimensional laser system

We study the lifetimes of chaotic attractors at crises in a multidimensional laser system. This system describes the CO2 laser with modulated losses and is known as the four-level model. The critical exponents which are related to the lifetimes of the attractors are estimated in terms of the corresponding eigenvalues and the measured characteristic lifetime in the model. The critical exponents in this model and those of its center manifold version are in good agreement. We conjecture that generically in the four-level model the critical exponents are close to 1/2 at crises. In addition, we compare predictions of a simpler and popular model known as the two-level model with those of the above mentioned models. (author). 21 refs, 2 figs, 3 tabs