Why do we need three levels to understand the molecular optical response

Traditionally, the nonlinear optical response at the molecular level has been modeled using the two-level approximation, under the assumption that the behavior of the exact sum-over-states (SOS) expressions for the molecular polarizabilities is well represented by the contribution of only two levels. We show how, a rigorous application of the Thomas-Kuhn sum-rules over the SOS expression for the diagonal component of the first-hyperpolarziability proves that the two-level approximation is unphysical. In addition, we indicate how the contributions of potentially infinite number of states to the SOS expressions for the first-hyperpolarizability are well represented by the contributions of a generic three-level system. This explains why the analysis of the three-level model in conjugation with the sum rules has lead to successful paradigms for the optimization of organic chromophores.