Low frequency fluctuations in a multimode semiconductor laser with optical feedback

We study a multimode semiconductor laser subject to a moderate optical feedback. The steady state is destabilized by either a simple Hopf bifurcation leading to in phase dynamics or by a degenerate Hopf bifurcation leading to antiphase dynamics. The degenerate bifurcation is also a source of multiple coexisting attractors. We show that a simple interpretation of the low frequency fluctuations in the multimode regime is provided by a chaotic itinerancy among the many coexisting unstable attractors produced by the degenerate Hopf bifurcation.