  The large scale interferometric gravitational wave detectors consist of
Fabry-Perot cavities operating at very high powers ranging from tens of kW to
MW for next generations. The high powers may result in several nonlinear
effects which would affect the performance of the detector. In this paper, we
investigate the effects of radiation pressure, which tend to displace the
mirrors from their resonant position resulting in the detuning of the cavity.
We observe a remarkable effect, namely, that the freely hanging mirrors gain
energy continuously and swing with increasing amplitude. It is found that the
`time delay', that is, the time taken for the field to adjust to its
instantaneous equilibrium value, when the mirrors are in motion, is responsible
for this effect. This effect is likely to be important in the optimal operation
of the full-scale interferometers such as VIRGO and LIGO.
