Predicting Mutual Entrainment of Oscillators with Experiment-Based Phase Models

Abstract

We show that mutual entrainment in interacting oscillators can be characterized using phase models that are developed from direct experiments with a single oscillator. The models are used to predict order-disorder transitions in populations and the dependence of order on system parameters; the description is verified in independent experiments in sets of chemical oscillators. The experiment-based model properly describes in-phase and antiphase mutual entrainment with positive and negative interactions in small sets as well as dynamical clustering in populations of oscillators.