Self-induced transparency in an anisotropic molecular gas

A theory is developed of the self-induced transparency (SIT) of an anisotropic molecular gas for which aspects of the orientation of the molecules are of decisive importance. It is found that in such a chaotic molecular gas, the SIT equations do not have self-similar solutions in the form of a solitary nonlinear wave (soliton). In a partially oriented gas, the solutions have a quasisoliton form. An estimate is made of the orienting electric field required to observe the predicted effect.