Cavity-controlled spectral singularity

We study theoretically a parity-time (PT)-symmetric, saturable, balanced gain-loss system in a ring-cavity configuration. The saturable gain and loss are modeled by a two-level medium with or without population inversion. We show that the specifics of the spectral singularity can be fully controlled by the cavity and the atomic detuning parameters. The theory is based on the mean-field approximation, as in the standard theory of optical bistability. Further, in the linear regime we demonstrate the regularization of the singularity in detuned systems, while larger input power levels are shown to be adequate to limit the infinite growth in absence of detunings.