  The group velocity for pulses in an optical medium can be negative at
frequencies between those of a pair of laser-pumped spectral lines. The gain
medium then can amplify the leading edge of a pulse resulting in a time advance
of the pulse when it exits the medium, as has been recently demonstrated in the
laboratory. This effect has been called superluminal, but, as a classical
analysis shows, it cannot result in signal propgation at speeds greater than
that of light in vacuum.
