CAREER: Dynamics of Individual and Coupled Oscillators

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

Proposal No. CMS-0547606 (PI: Jeffrey M. Moehlis, University of California-Santa Barbara ) Title: CAREER: Dynamics of Individual and Coupled Oscillators Abstract There are many natural and technological systems that undergo oscillations in mechanical, electrical, and/or chemical properties, ranging from simple pendula to pacemaker cells in the heart and blinking fireflies. When such oscillators interact, their dynamics can adjust to give synchronized behavior. Such synchronization can be beneficial: for example, generators of electrical power acting on a common load synchronize under appropriate conditions, a crucial effect for the normal functioning of power-generation networks. Synchronization can also be detrimental: for example, tremors arising from Parkinson's disease are due to pathological, synchronized brain activity. This project aspires to understand, use, and control the synchronization of individual and coupled oscillators to external signals and to each other. This work will enhance the understanding of entrainment and interactions of cellular circadian oscillators, and will provide a theoretical basis for the treatment of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease using the therapeutic technique known as deep brain stimulation. This work will also enhance the theoretical basis for new mechanical filtering and sensing capabilities, which exploit coupling between microelectromechanical oscillators. In addition to research activities, this project includes the development of a freely available, interactive website on oscillators and synchronization.