Critical slowing down at a bifurcation

Critical slowing down near a bifurcation or limit point leads to a dynamical hysteresis that cannot be avoided by sweeping a control parameter slowly through the critical point. This paper analytically illustrates, with the help of a simple model, the bifurcation shift. We describe an inexpensive experiment using a semiconductor laser where this phenomenon occurs near the threshold of a semiconductor laser. (C) 2004 American Association of Physics Teachers.