Inhibition of modulation instability in lasers by noise

It is shown that additive noise can inhibit modulation instability in laser equations of motion. A related self-starting condition for pulsation is obtained by employing a fluctuation-dissipation relation between noise and losses and a statistical mechanics approach. Entropy considerations are shown to play a crucial role. The quantum limit for self-starting is estimated. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.