Natural convection in laser systems

The general type of boundary conditions in heat exchange problems, including heat exchange in laser systems, is discussed. The appearance of convection in a plane layer of a nonequilibrium gas with the volume energy release and its temperature dependence is briefly considered. Convection in a cylindrical system and in a system of coaxial cylinders with a cooled central part is considered in detail. Such systems simulate real laser devices. It is shown that the maximum temperature in the cylindrical system decreases due to convection, whereas the maximum temperature in the system of coaxial cylinders increases, i.e., the analysis of heat removal in a laser system reveals a very important role of convection.