Energy exchange in globally coupled mechanical phase oscillators

Abstract

We study the stationary dynamics of energy exchange in an ensemble of phase oscillators, coupled through a mean-field mechanical interaction and added with friction and an external periodic excitation. The degree of entrainment between different parts of the ensemble and the external forcing determines three dynamical regimes, each of them characterized by specific rates of energy exchange. Using suitable approximations, we are able to obtain analytical expressions for those rates, which are in satisfactory agreement with results from numerical integration of the equations of motion. In some of the dynamical regimes, the rates of energy exchange show nontrivial dependence on the friction coefficients—in particular, nonmonotonic behavior and sign switching. This suggests that, even in this kind of stylized model, power transfer between different parts of the ensemble and to the environment can be manipulated by a convenient choice of the individual oscillator parameters.