Malyshev, Andrey2023-06-202023-06-202012-12-271050-294710.1103/PhysRevA.86.065804https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/42781©2012 American Physical Society. Support from the project MOSAICO (FIS2006-01485), fruitful discussions with V. A. Malyshev, and the hospitality of the University of Groningen are gratefully acknowledgedWe address a two-level system in an environment interacting with an electromagnetic field in the dipole approximation. The resonant optical bistability induced by local-field effects is studied by considering the relationship between the population difference and the excitation field. The diversity of various systems is included by accounting for system self-action via the surface part of Green's dyadic in the general form. The bistability condition and the exact solution of the steady-state optical Bloch equations at the absolute bistability threshold are derived analytically.engjournal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.86.065804https://journals.aps.orgopen access538.9Quantum electrodynamicsFinite geometries2-Level atomsDenseDielectricsConductorsSystemsModelFísica de materialesFísica del estado sólido2211 Física del Estado Sólido