A class of solvable coupled nonlinear oscillators with amplitude independent frequencies

Existence of amplitude independent frequencies of oscillation is an unusual property for a nonlinear oscillator. We find that a class of N coupled nonlinear Liénard type oscillators exhibit this interesting property. We show that a specific subset can be explicitly solved from which we demonstrate the existence of periodic and quasiperiodic solutions. Another set of N coupled nonlinear oscillators, possessing the amplitude independent nature of frequencies, is almost integrable in the sense that the system can be reduced to a single nonautonomous first order scalar differential equation which can be easily integrated numerically.     

On the interaction of the responses at the resonance frequencies of a nonlinear two degrees-of-freedom system

This paper describes the dynamic behaviour of a coupled system which includes a nonlinear hardening system driven harmonically by a shaker. The shaker is modelled as a linear single degree-of-freedom system and the nonlinear system under test is modelled as a hardening Duffing oscillator. The mass of the nonlinear system is much less than the moving mass of the shaker and thus the nonlinear system has little effect on the shaker dynamics. The nonlinearity is due to the geometric configuration consisting of a mass suspended on four springs, which incline as they are extended. Following experimental validation, the model is used to explore the dynamic behaviour of the system under a range of different conditions. Of particular interest is the situation when the linear natural frequency of the nonlinear system is less than the natural frequency of the shaker such that the frequency response curve of the nonlinear system bends to higher frequencies and thus interacts with the resonance frequency of the shaker. It is found that for some values of the system parameters a complicated frequency response curve for the nonlinear system can occur; closed detached curves can appear as a part of the overall amplitude-frequency response. These detached curves can lie outside or inside the main resonance curve, and a physical explanation for their occurrence is given.     

Synchronization of phase oscillators with heterogeneous coupling: A solvable case

We consider an extension of Kuramoto’s model of coupled phase oscillators where oscillator pairs interact with different strengths. When the coupling coefficient of each pair can be separated into two different factors, each one associated to an oscillator, Kuramoto’s theory for the transition to synchronization can be explicitly generalized, and the effects of coupling heterogeneity on synchronized states can be analytically studied. The two factors are respectively interpreted as the weight of the contribution of each oscillator to the mean field, and the coupling of each oscillator to that field. We explicitly analyze the effects of correlations between those weights and couplings, and show that synchronization can be completely inhibited when they are strongly anti-correlated. Numerical results validate the theory, but suggest that finite-size effect are relevant to the collective dynamics close to the synchronization transition, where oscillators become entrained in synchronized frequency clusters.     

Collective resonances in plasmonic crystals: Size matters

Periodic arrays of metallic nanoparticles may sustain surface lattice resonances (SLRs), which are collective resonances associated with the diffractive coupling of localized surface plasmons resonances (LSPRs). By investigating a series of arrays with varying number of particles, we traced the evolution of SLRs to its origins. Polarization resolved extinction spectra of arrays formed by a few nanoparticles were measured, and found to be in very good agreement with calculations based on a coupled dipole model. Finite size effects on the optical properties of the arrays are observed, and our results provide insight into the characteristic length scales for collective plasmonic effects: for arrays smaller than ∼5×5$\sim 5\times 5$ particles, the Q  -factors of SLRs are lower than those of LSPRs; for arrays larger than ∼20×20$\sim 20\times 20$ particles, the Q-factors of SLRs saturate at a much larger value than those of LSPRs; in between, the Q-factors of SLRs are an increasing function of the number of particles in the array.     

A quasioptical doubler-array

The design of a planar quasioptical doubler configuration with an output frequency of 290 GHz is presented. Frequency conversion is realized with a monolithic Schottky — varactor array. Coupling of electromagnetic energy from beam waveguide to chip and vice versa is carried out with integrated antenna arrays. Electromagnetic field calculations describe coupling effects between the single array elements. RF—measurements of multiplier performance are also presented.     

The Invariant Eigen-Operator Method for?N?Harmonically Coupled Identical Oscillators

In this paper, we apply the method of “invariant eigen-operator” to study the Hamiltonian of arbitrary number of coupled identical oscillators and derive their invariant eigen-operator. The results show that, (1) for the system of arbitrary number of identical harmonic oscillators by coordinate coupling or momentum coupling, the invariant eigen operator of system always has the form of or ; (2) the energy level gap of the system has two kinds of possibilities: one is that gap only related to ω that the frequency of oscillators; another one is that gap not only related to ω that the frequency of oscillators, but also related to the number of the coupling oscillators.     

Self-similarity and asymptotic stability for coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations in high dimensions

This paper is concerned with systems of coupled Schrödinger equations with polynomial nonlinearities and dimension n≥1. We show the existence of global self-similar solutions and prove that they are asymptotically stable in a framework based on weak-L^p spaces, whose elements have local finite L²-mass. The radial symmetry of the solutions is also addressed.     

Partial entrainment in the finite Kuramoto-Sakaguchi model

Although modifications of the Kuramoto model have been the subject of extensive research, the model itself is not yet fully understood. We offer several results and observations, some analytic, others through simulations. We derive a sufficient condition for the existence of a solution exhibiting partial entrainment with respect to a given subset of oscillators; the result also implies persistence of the entrainment behavior under perturbations.The critical values of the coupling strength, defining the transitions between different forms of partial entrainment, are predicted by an analytical approximation, based on the fact that oscillators with large differences in their natural frequencies have little influence on each other’s entrainment behavior; the predictions agree with the actual values, obtained by simulations.We indicate (by simulations) that entrainment can disappear with increasing coupling strength, and that, in arrays of Josephson junctions, a similar phenomenon can be observed, where it is also possible that a junction leaving one entrained subset joins another entrained subset.     

Oscillation quenching mechanisms: Amplitude vs. oscillation death

Oscillation quenching constitutes a fundamental emergent phenomenon in systems of coupled nonlinear oscillators. Its importance for various natural and man-made systems, ranging from climate, lasers, chemistry and a wide range of biological oscillators can be projected from two main aspects: (i) suppression of oscillations as a regulator of certain pathological cases and (ii) a general control mechanism for technical systems. We distinguish two structurally distinct oscillation quenching types: oscillation   (OD$OD$) and amplitude death   (AD$AD$) phenomena. In this review we aim to set clear boundaries between these two very different oscillation quenching manifestations and demonstrate the importance for their correct identification from the aspect of theory as well as of applications. Moreover, we pay special attention to the physiological interpretation of OD$OD$ and AD$AD$ in a large class of biological systems, further underlying their different properties. Several open issues and challenges that await further resolving are also highlighted.     

Clustering in neural networks with heterogeneous and asymmetrical coupling strengths

The existence and stability of phase-clustered states have been studied previously in networks of weakly coupled oscillators with uniform coupling strengths [Physica D 63 (1993) 424]. However, several studies have shown that if the coupling is uniform and repulsive, it is hard to obtain stable phase-clustered states in networks of realistic neural oscillators when noise is present [Neural Comput. 7 (1995) 307; Phys. Rev. E 57 (1998) 2150]. This problem was avoided by introducing heterogeneity in the distribution of coupling strengths [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 72 (2003) 443]. It has been shown that heterogeneous coupling strengths make the occurrence of stable clustered states possible in small networks of repulsively coupled neural oscillators of all kinds [J. Comput. Neurosci. 14 (2003) 139; SIAM J. Appl. Math., submitted for publication]. The present work extends these results to large networks of N identical neurons that are globally coupled with heterogeneous and asymmetrical coupling strengths. Conditions for the existence and stability of a state of n synchronized clusters at evenly distributed phases, called the state of n splay-phase clusters, are derived. Clusters of different sizes, i.e. containing different numbers of neurons, are studied. The existence of such a state is guaranteed if the strength of the coupling originating from one neuron to other neurons is inversely proportional to the size of the cluster to which it belongs. This condition is called the rule of inverse cluster-size. At the state of n splay-phase clusters, the N-neuron network behaves like a network of n “big neurons”. Stability of this state is determined by n eigenvalues of which only one determines the stability of intra-cluster phase differences. The remaining n−1 conditions determine the stability of inter-cluster phase differences, but only n_h=(n− mod (n,2))/2 of them have distinct real parts due to symmetry. Heterogeneous coupling makes the stability conditions depend on coupling strengths. This analysis not only reveals how clustered states occur in more general kinds of networks, but also illustrates how the stability of clustered states can be achieved in networks of repulsively coupled neural oscillators. Results on clustered states with phases that are not evenly distributed in the phase space are also presented. Potential applications of these results are discussed.     

Implementation of a two-qubit controlled-rotation gate based on unconventional geometric phase with a constant gating time

We propose an alternative scheme to implement a two-qubit controlled-R (rotation) gate in the hybrid atom-CCA (coupled cavities array) system. Our scheme results in a constant gating time and, with an adjustable qubit-bus coupling (atom-resonator), one can specify a particular rotation R on the target qubit. We believe that this proposal may open promising perspectives for networking quantum information processors and implementing distributed and scalable quantum computation.     

Oscillation death in coupled oscillators

We study dynamical behaviors in coupled nonlinear oscillators and find that under certain conditions, a whole coupled oscillator system can cease oscillation and transfer to a globally nonuniform stationary state [i.e., the so-called oscillation death (OD) state], and this phenomenon can be generally observed. This OD state depends on coupling strengths and is clearly different from previously studied amplitude death (AD) state, which refers to the phenomenon where the whole system is trapped into homogeneously steady state of a fixed point, which already exists but is unstable in the absence of coupling. For larger systems, very rich pattern structures of global death states are observed. These Turing-like patterns may share some essential features with the classical Turing pattern.      

Frequency analysis with coupled nonlinear oscillators

We present a method to obtain the frequency spectrum of a signal with a nonlinear dynamical system. The dynamical system is composed of a pool of adaptive frequency oscillators with negative mean-field coupling. For the frequency analysis, the synchronization and adaptation properties of the component oscillators are exploited. The frequency spectrum of the signal is reflected in the statistics of the intrinsic frequencies of the oscillators. The frequency analysis is completely embedded in the dynamics of the system. Thus, no pre-processing or additional parameters, such as time windows, are needed. Representative results of the numerical integration of the system are presented. It is shown, that the oscillators tune to the correct frequencies for both discrete and continuous spectra. Due to its dynamic nature the system is also capable to track non-stationary spectra. Further, we show that the system can be modeled in a probabilistic manner by means of a nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation. The probabilistic treatment is in good agreement with the numerical results, and provides a useful tool to understand the underlying mechanisms leading to convergence.     

Simulation of three-dimensional nonlinear fields of ultrasound therapeutic arrays

A novel numerical model was developed to simulate three-dimensional nonlinear fields generated by high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) arrays. The model is based on the solution to the Westervelt equation; the developed algorithm makes it possible to model nonlinear pressure fields of periodic waves in the presence of shock fronts localized near the focus. The role of nonlinear effects in a focused beam of a two-dimensional array was investigated in a numerical experiment in water. The array consisting of 256 elements and intensity range on the array elements of up to 10 W/cm² was considered. The results of simulations have shown that for characteristic intensity outputs of modern HIFU arrays, nonlinear effects play an important role and shock fronts develop in the pressure waveforms at the focus.     

Hyperbolic chaos in a system of resonantly coupled weakly nonlinear oscillators

We show that a hyperbolic chaos can be observed in resonantly coupled oscillators near a Hopf bifurcation, described by normal-form-type equations for complex amplitudes. The simplest example consists of four oscillators, comprising two alternatively activated, due to an external periodic modulation, pairs. In terms of the stroboscopic Poincaré map, the phase differences change according to an expanding Bernoulli map that depends on the coupling type. Several examples of hyperbolic chaos for different types of coupling are illustrated numerically.     

Whirling instabilities in heat exchanger tube arrays

The simple position-dependent whirling mechanism proposed by Blevins for single across-stream tube rows is extended to model the effects of mechanical coupling between tubes and whirling in two dimensional tube banks. The model is in reasonable agreement with experiment for staggered arrays but not for in-line arrays. A wake galloping model is suggested for in-line arrays which is capable of producing agreement with experiment. The use of the Pettigrew design criteria for tube banks is also critically assessed. It is suggested that the use of a fixed “whirling” constant K for all structural mode shapes of a tube array may be too restrictive for low frequency, long wavelength modes, whereas a “whirling” constant dependent on tube array mode shape is more useful for design purposes. A discussion has been included of the relevance to real heat exchangers of flow tests on uncoupled tube arrays and the effects of detuning tubes in such arrays.     

Bifurcations and loss of orbital stability in nonlinear viscoelastic beam arrays subject to parametric actuation

The collective dynamic response of microbeam arrays is governed by nonlinear effects, which have not yet been fully investigated and understood. This work employs a nonlinear continuum-based model in order to investigate the nonlinear dynamic behavior of an array of N nonlinearly coupled micro-electromechanical beams that are parametrically actuated. Investigations focus on the behavior of small size arrays in the one-to-one internal resonance regime, which is generated for low or zero DC voltages. The dynamic equations of motion of a two-element system are solved analytically using the asymptotic multiple-scales method for the weakly nonlinear system. Analytically obtained results are verified numerically and complemented by a numerical analysis of a three-beam array. The dynamic responses of the two- and three-beam systems reveal coexisting periodic and aperiodic solutions. The stability analysis enables construction of a detailed bifurcation structure, which reveals coexisting stable periodic and aperiodic solutions. For zero DC voltage only quasi-periodic and no evidence for the existence of chaotic solutions are observed. This study of small size microbeam arrays yields design criteria, complements the understanding of nonlinear nearest-neighbor interactions, and sheds light on the fundamental understanding of the collective behavior of finite-size arrays.     

Desynchronization transitions in nonlinearly coupled phase oscillators

We consider the nonlinear extension of the Kuramoto model of globally coupled phase oscillators where the phase shift in the coupling function depends on the order parameter. A bifurcation analysis of the transition from fully synchronous state to partial synchrony is performed. We demonstrate that for small ensembles it is typically mediated by stable cluster states, that disappear with creation of heteroclinic cycles, while for a larger number of oscillators a direct transition from full synchrony to a periodic or a quasiperiodic regime occurs.     

Gain enhancement of an electrically small antenna array using metamaterials

This paper presents the enhancement of radiated power ratio of a two-dipole array of infinitesimal dipole elements, separated by an infinitesimal distance. It is shown that a properly constructed metamaterial shell configuration with optimized material parameters surrounding the dipole can cancel both the self- and the mutual reactances of the array system. Simultaneously, a very high radiated power ratio is realized for the array system even in the presence of strong mutual coupling between the array elements. This potentially leads to the development of highly efficient ultra-compact antenna arrays. In addition, by using a material of non-unity permittivity surrounding the array system, uniform radiated power ratio characteristics can be achieved with the variation in the metamaterial shell thickness. This removes the major drawback in the practical design of the metamaterial shell proposed earlier for the radiated power ratio enhancement of a single dipole. Very good matching characteristics are obtained for the antenna configuration demonstrating almost complete cancelation of the reactive power of the array system. The frequency dispersive behavior of the antenna configuration is investigated using the lossless and lossy Drude models.     

Collective dynamics of delay-coupled limit cycle oscillators

Coupled limit cycle oscillators with instantaneous mutual coupling offer a useful but idealized mathematical paradigm for the study of collective behavior in a wide variety of biological, physical and chemical systems. In most real-life systems however the interaction is not instantaneous but is delayed due to finite propagation times of signals, reaction times of chemicals, individual neuron firing periods in neural networks etc. We present a brief overview of the effect of time-delayed coupling on the collective dynamics of such coupled systems. Simple model equations describing two oscillators with a discrete time-delayed coupling as well as those describing linear arrays of a large number of oscillators with time-delayed global or local couplings are studied. Analytic and numerical results pertaining to time delay induced changes in the onset and stability of amplitude death and phase-locked states are discussed. A number of recent experimental and theoretical studies reveal interesting new directions of research in this field and suggest exciting future areas of exploration and applications.