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arXiv · 0811.1012

Heteroclinic Ratchets in a System of Four Coupled Oscillators

O. Karabacak·P. Ashwin
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Abstract

We study an unusual but robust phenomenon that appears in an example system of four coupled phase oscillators. We show that the system can have a robust attractor that responds to a specific detuning between certain pairs of the oscillators by a breaking of phase locking for arbitrary positive detunings but not for negative detunings. As the dynamical mechanism behind this is a particular type of heteroclinic network, we call this a 'heteroclinic ratchet' because of its dynamical resemblance to a mechanical ratchet.

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O. Karabacak, P. Ashwin. 2008-11-06. Heteroclinic Ratchets in a System of Four Coupled Oscillators. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00332-009-9053-2

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