By making use of the changes in optical properties such as absorption and dispersion around the resonance generated via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), we theoretically and experimentally investigate a "∞"-shape optical bistability (OB) versus frequency on the probe transmission with a Λ-shape EIT window in a rubidium atomic ensemble confined in a three-mirror optical ring cavity. Compared to the traditional OB reflected by a hysteresis loop versus power, such newly demonstrated

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... optical bistable behavior (represented by a "∞"-shape non-overlapping region) by scanning probe and cavity detuning can experience dual bistabilities and be more sensitive to the change of experimental parameters. Further, we study the relationship between vacuum Rabi splitting and the "∞"shape OB. Such study on frequency-induced OB could effectively improve the applications related to OB such as logic-gate devices and optical information processing. Splitting of atom-cavity polariton peaks for three-level atoms in an optical cavity," Phys. Rev. A 80 ( 3), 033806 (2009). -normal-mode splitting of a cavity in the presence of atoms: A step towards the superstrong-coupling regime," Phys. Rev. A 79(6), 061803 (2009). 17. X. Yu and J. Zhang, "Multi-normal mode-splitting for an optical cavity with electromagnetically induced transparency medium," Opt. Express 18(5), 4057-4065 (2010). 18. Stable scanning of dressing fields on multiwave mixing in optical ring cavity," IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 50(7), 575-580 (2014). 19. H. Wu, J. Gea-Banacloche, and M. Xiao, "Observation of intracavity electromagnetically induced transparency and polariton resonances in a doppler-broadened medium," Phys. "Controllable vacuum Rabi splitting and optical bistability of multi-wave-mixing signal inside a ring cavity," Phys. Rev. A 86(6), 063820 (2012). 23. Y. Zhang, Z. Nie, H. Zheng, C. Li, J. Song, and M. Xiao, "Electromagnetically induced spatial nonlinear dispersion of four-wave mixing," Phys. Rev. A 80(1), 013835 (2009). 24. H. Wang, D. Goorskey, and M. Xiao, "Dependence of enhanced Kerr nonlinearity on coupling power in a threelevel atomic system," Opt. Lett. 27(4), 258-260 (2002).