On the splitting of a subcycle pulse upon its coherent propagation in a resonant medium

The dynamics of coherent propagation of a unipolar subcycle pulse of a large electric-field area (the integral of the electric-field strength with respect to time) in a nonlinear two-level resonant medium is studied theoretically. The propagating pulse is shown to be capable of splitting into a pair of individual components, each of which behaves like a pulse of self-induced transparency. This phenomenon is similar to the well-known phenomenon of splitting of a 4$\pi$ or 6$\pi$ pulse into a pair of 2$\pi$ pulses of self-induced transparency, which occurs in the case of propagation of long pulses, when the notion of the pulse area is applicable and the area theorem holds.