Relaxation oscillators, limit cycle oscillators, and somewhere in between: experimental exploration of waveform variation in synchronizing oscillators

In biological systems that exhibit synchronization, oscillators within a single population vary not only in their natural rates, but in many other characteristics. To study such variations experimentally, we have built an ensemble of highly configurable electronic oscillators. These oscillators have programmable speed, coupling strength, coupling phase offset, and waveform. Each oscillator's waveform can be tuned from approximately sinusoidal to relaxational, effectively altering the interaction from a nearly sinusoidal one to a more complex form. To our knowledge, interactions between oscillators with different waveforms have not been examined. In this talk, we will present our findings on how variations in waveform in a single population affect the system's ability to synchronize.