Maxwell-Bloch equations: A unified view of nonlinear optics and nonlinear atom optics.

The linear and nonlinear properties of propagation of an electromagnetic field through a medium may be derived by the effective elimination of the medium from the coupled Maxwell-Bloch equations. In this paper we suggest, on the other hand, the elimination of the field from the Maxwell-Bloch equations as a means to derive a nonlinear master equation for, e.g., an atomic sample in a laser field. This presents a straightforward and physically intuitive derivation of equations for ``nonlinear atom optics,'' obtained recently by other approaches.