General method for the calculation of the frequency of beats in a single-mode ring laser

Shortened amplitude-phase equations describing the generation of two coupled oppositely directed waves in a ring laser are used in a derivation of a generalized equation for the beat frequency. All the known results follow from this equation as special cases. A general relationship is obtained for the rate of rotation of the system as a function of experimentally measurable quantities (beat frequency and average intensities of opposite waves).