Comparative study of anomalous dispersive transparent media

We present a comparative theoretical analysis of five different atomic schemes with respect to their performance as negative (anomalous) dispersive transparent media. The schemes discussed are the strongly driven and the degenerate two-level system, two closely spaced gain lines, and two slightly different double-$\Lambda$ schemes with incoherent pumping. The analysis shows that the degenerate two-level scheme is best suited for applications for which only modest negative dispersion but strongly reduced absorption is required, and dissipation and loss of the optical fields have to be avoided. Two closely spaced gain lines and one of the double-$\Lambda$ schemes are the best choice for applications which rely on large negative dispersion, but are not too sensitive to residual absorption and dissipation.