Periodic and quasiperiodic motion for complex non-linear systems

A damped complex non-linear system corresponding to two coupled non-linear oscillators with a periodic damping force is investigated by an asymptotic perturbation method based on Fourier expansion and time rescaling. Four coupled equations for the amplitude and the phase of solutions are derived. Phase-locked solutions with period equal to the damping force period are possible only if the oscillators amplitudes are equal. On the contrary, if the oscillators amplitudes are different, periodic solutions exist only with a period different from the damping force period. These solutions are stable only for perturbations that conserve the phase difference and the square amplitude sum of the oscillators. Energy considerations are used in order to study existence and characteristics of quasiperiodic motion. We demonstrate that modulated motion can be also obtained for appropriate values of the detuning parameter and in this case an approximate analytic solution is easily constructed. If the detuning parameter decreases the modulation period increases and then diverges, an infinite-period bifurcation occurs and the resulting motion becomes unbounded. Analytic approximate solutions are checked by numerical integration.