Bifurcation structures of periodically forced oscillators.

A theoretical investigation of bifurcation structures of periodically forced oscillators is presented. In the plane of forcing frequency and amplitude, subharmonic entrainment occurs in v-shaped (Arnol'd) tongues, or entrainment bands, for small forcing amplitudes. These tongues terminate at higher forcing amplitudes. Between these two limits, individual tongues fit together to form a global bifurcation structure. The regime in which the forcing amplitude is much smaller than the amplitude of the limit cycle is first examined. Using the method of multiple time scales, expressions for solutions on the invariant torus, widths of Arnol'd tongues, and Liapunov exponents of periodic orbits are derived. Next, the regime of moderate to large forcing amplitudes is examined through studying a periodically forced Hopf bifurcation. In this case the forcing amplitude and the amplitude of the limit cycle can be of the same order of magnitude. From a study of the normal forms for this case, it is shown how Arnol'd tongues terminate and how complicated bifurcation structures are associated with strong resonances. Aspects of model and experimental chemical systems that show some of the phenomena predicted from the above theoretical results are mentioned.