Lasers without inversion: Interference of lifetime-broadened resonances

We show that if two upper levels of a four-level laser system are purely lifetime broadened, and decay to an identical continuum, then there will be an interference in the absorption profile of lower-level atoms, and that this interference is absent from the stimulated emission profile of the upper-level atoms. Laser amplification may then be obtained without inversion. Examples include interfering autoionizing levels, and tunneling systems.