Experimental observation of multifrequency patterns in arrays of coupled nonlinear oscillators

Frequency-related oscillations in coupled oscillator systems, in which one or more oscillators oscillate at different frequencies than the other oscillators, have been studied using group theoretical methods by Armbruster and Chossat [Phys. Lett. A 254, 269 (1999)] and more recently by Golubitsky and Stewart [in Geometry, Mechanics, and Dynamics, edited by P. Newton, P. Holmes, and A. Weinstein (Springer, New York, 2002), p. 243]. We demonstrate, experimentally, via electronic circuits, the existence of frequency-related oscillations in a network of two arrays of N oscillators, per array, coupled to one another. Under certain conditions, one of the arrays can be induced to oscillate at N times the frequency of the other array. This type of behavior is different from the one observed in a driven system because it is dictated mainly by the symmetry of the coupled system.