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Discontinuous Spirals of Stable Periodic Oscillations

Sack A, Freire JG, Lindberg E, Pöschel T, Gallas JAC
Scientific Reports volume 3, Article number: 3350 (2013), https://doi.org/10.1038/srep03350

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Abstract

We report the experimental discovery of a remarkable organization of the set of self-generated periodic oscillations in the parameter space of a nonlinear electronic circuit. When control parameters are suitably tuned, the wave pattern complexity of the periodic oscillations is found to increase orderly without bound. Such complex patterns emerge forming self-similar discontinuous phases that combine in an artful way to produce large discontinuous spirals of stability. This unanticipated discrete accumulation of stability phases was detected experimentally and numerically in a Duffing-like proxy specially designed to bypass noisy spectra conspicuously present in driven oscillators. Discontinuous spirals organize the dynamics over extended parameter intervals around a focal point. They are useful to optimize locking into desired oscillatory modes and to control complex systems. The organization of oscillations into discontinuous spirals is expected to be generic for a class of nonlinear oscillators.