Polarization renormalization due to nonlinear optical generation

By concentrating on the total electric polarization at the frequency of a wave generated by a coherent nonlinear optical process, the author extends the treatment of Bloembergen and Pershan to show that anomalously small multiphoton excitation is a consequence solely of Maxwell's equations, with no recourse to a quantum mechanical treatment of the nonlinear medium's polarization response to applied electric fields. © 1984 The American Physical Society.