  We present a three-dimensional theory of stimulated Raman scattering
  (SRS) or superradiance. In particular we address how the spatial and temporal
properties of the generated SRS beam, or Stokes beam, of radiation depends on
the spatial properties of the gain medium. Maxwell equations for the Stokes
field operators and of the atomic operators are solved analytically and a
correlation function for the Stokes field is derived. In the analysis we
identify a superradiating part of the Stokes radiation that exhibit beam
characteristics. We show how the intensity in this beam builds up in time and
at some point largely dominates the total Stokes radiation of the gain medium.
We show how the SRS depends on geometric factors such as the Fresnel number and
the optical depth, and that in fact these two factors are the only factors
describing the coherent radiation.
