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org/article/Van_der_Pol_oscillator
x (1 x2 )x + x = 0 , (1)
where x is the dynamical variable and > 0 a parameter. This model was proposed by Balthasar van der Pol (1889-1959)
in 1920 when he was an engineer working for Philips Company (in the Netherlands).
Contents
1 Analysis
1.1 Small Damping
1.2 Large Damping
2 Electrical Circuit
3 Periodic Forcing and Deterministic Chaos
4 References
5 External Links
6 See Also
Analysis
When x is small, the quadratic term x2 is negligible and the system becomes a linear differential equation with a negative
damping x . Thus, the fixed point (x = 0, x = 0) is unstable (an unstable focus when 0 < < 2 and an unstable
node, otherwise). On the other hand, when x is large, the term x2 becomes dominant and the damping becomes positive.
Therefore, the dynamics of the system is expected to be restricted in some area around the fixed point. Actually, the van
der Pol system (1) satisfies the Linard's theorem ensuring that there is a stable limit cycle in the phase space.The van der
Pol system is therefore a Linard system.
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Van_der_Pol_oscillator
1 3
x = (x x y) (2)
3
x
y = (3)
which can be regarded as a special case of the FitzHugh-Nagumo model (also known as Bonhoeffer-van der Pol model).
Small Damping
When << 1, it is convenient to rewrite equation (1) as
1 3
x = (x x )y (4)
3
y = x (5)
where the transformation y = (x x3 /3) x was used. When = 0 , the system preserves the energy and has the
solution x = A cos(t + ) and y = A sin(t + ) . To obtain the approximated solution for small , new variables
(u, v) which rotate with the unperturbed solution, i.e.,
u = x cos t + y sin t
v = x sin t + y cos t
are considered. By substituting them into equations (4) and (5), we obtain
1
u = [u cos t v sin t (u cos t v sin t)3 ] cos t (6)
3
1
v = [u cos t v sin t (u cos t v sin t)3 ] sin t . (7)
3
Because u and v are O() , the varying speed of u and v is much slower than cos t and sin t . Therefore, the averaging
theory can be applied to equations (6) and (7). Integrating the righthand sides of equations (6) and (7) with respect to t
from 0 to T = 2 , keeping u and v fixed,
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Van_der_Pol_oscillator
u = u[4 (u2 + v2 )]
8
v = v[4 (u2 + v2 )]
8
are obtained. Introducing r = u2 + v2 , a differential equation
r = r (4 r2 ) (8)
8
which has a stable equilibrium with r = 2 is obtained. Therefore, the original system (4) and (5) has a stable limit cycle
with r = 2 for small .
Large Damping
When >> 1, it is convenient to use equations (2) and (3).
When the system is away from the curve y = x x3 /3 , a
relation |x| >> |y | = O(1/) is obtained from equations (2)
and (3). Therefore, the system moves quickly in the horizontal
direction. When the system enters the region where
|x x3 /3 y| = O(1/2 ) , x and y are comparable
because both of them are O(1/) . Then the system goes
slowly along the curve, and eventually exits from this region.
Such a situation is shown in Figure 3. It can be observed that
the system has a stable limit cycle.
Electrical Circuit
To make electrical circuits described by equation (1), active circuit elements with the cubic nonlinear property,
i = (v) = v3 v , are required, where i and v are current and voltage, respectively. In the 1920s, van der Pol built
the oscillator using the triode or tetrode. After Reona Esaki (1925-) invented the tunnel diode in 1957, making the van der
Pol oscillator with electrical circuits became much simpler.
Using the tunnel diode with input-output relation
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Van_der_Pol_oscillator
i = t (v) = (v E0 ) + I0
1
V = ((V ) W )
C
1
W = V Figure 5: An electrical circuit with a tunnel diode for the van der Pol oscillator.
L
This can be rewritten as
1 1
V ( 3V 2 )V + V =0 (9)
C LC
Introducing new variables x = 3/V , t = t/LC , and = L/C , equation (9) can be transformed into
equation (1). As shown in the previous section, when is large, the period of oscillation is proportional to . Thus, the
original system has a period T LC = L . Because has an order of the reciprocal of resistance r , T L/r is
obtained. L/R is the time constant of relaxation in LR circuit; therefore, the name of "relaxation oscillation" is justified.
The electrical circuit elements with the nonlinear property can also be realized using operational amplifiers. By this
method, much research has been done to study the nonlinear dynamics in physical systems.
Van der Pol had already examined the response of the van der
Pol oscillator to a periodic forcing in his paper in 1920, which
can be formulated as
2t
x (1 x2 )x + x = F cos( )
Tin
Pol did not identify the structure underlying a chaotic attractor in the phase space. Lorenz published a picture of a chaotic
attractor in the phase space in the early 60s and Ueda did in the early 70s.
Typical sounds of the system can be heard in the following links (before clicking the link, please lower the volume of your
speaker)
(A) Media:vdP-Periodic1.mp3 (Periodic, = 6 )
(B) Media:vdP-Chaotic.mp3 (Chaotic, = 8.53 )
(C) Media:vdP-Periodic2.mp3 (Periodic, = 10 )
where (A), (B), and (C) correspond to the letters in Figure 6. A transformation of the timescale was applied so that the
oscillation with Tout = 10 was transformed into the oscillation with 440 [Hz]. An irregular noise would be heard when
chaos exists in the system.
The locking behaviors of the mean period can be understood using the circle map and related mappings. This was done in
a series of papers by M.L. Cartwright and J.E. Littlewood (1945-1950) and in work on an important piece-wise linear
approximation by N. Levinson (1949). Both of these investigations uncovered "random-like" dynamics. Levinson's
analysis led to S. Smale's introduction of the horseshoe mapping, which was used by M. Levi (1981) to complete the
picture of limit behavior of all solutions. van der Pol's model was simulated using high resolution computations by J.E.
Flaherty and F.C. Hoppensteadt (1978) who identified overlapping regions in the parameter domain where phase locking
occurs, similar to Arnold's tongues. That work motivated a successful investigation of phase-locking in neural tissue done
by R. Guttman et al.(See Voltage-Controlled Oscillations in Neurons). As for chaos in the Arnold's tongues, please see
Horita et al. (1988) and Ott (1993).
References
B. van der Pol, A theory of the amplitude of free and forced triode vibrations, Radio Review, 1, 701-710, 754-762,
1920.
E. V. Appleton and B. van der Pol, On the form of free triode vibrations, The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin
Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science Ser.6, 42, 201-220, 1921.
E. V. Appleton and B. van der Pol, On a type of oscillation-hysteresis in a simple triode generator, The London,
Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science Ser.6, 43, 177-193, 1922.
B. van der Pol, On oscillation hysteresis in a triode generator with two degrees of freedom, The London, Edinburgh,
and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science Ser.6, 43, 700-719, 1922.
B. van der Pol, On "relaxation-oscillations", The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal
of Science Ser.7, 2, 978-992, 1926.
B. van der Pol, Forced oscillations in a circuit with non-linear resistance (reception with reactive triode), The London,
Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science Ser.7, 3, 65-80, 1927.
B. van der Pol and J. van der Mark, Frequency demultiplication, Nature, 120, 363-364, 1927
B. van der Pol and J. van der Mark, The heartbeat considered as a relaxation oscillation, and an electrical model of the
heart. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science Ser.7, 6, 763-775, 1928.
B. van der Pol, The nonlinear theory of electric oscillations, Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, 22,
1051-1086, 1934.
M. L. Cartwright and J. E. Littlewood, On non-linear differential equations of the second order: I. The equation
y k(1 y 2 )y + y = bkcos(t + a); k large, Journal of the London Mathematical Society, 20, 180-189, 1945.
N. Levinson, A second order differential equation with singular solutions, Ann. Math., 50, No. 1, 127-153, 1949.
M.L. Cartwright, Forced oscillations in nonlinear systems, Contrib. to theory of nonlinear oscillations, Princeton
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Van_der_Pol_oscillator
External Links
See Also
Averaging, Chaos, FitzHugh-Nagumo Model, Periodic Orbit, Relaxation Oscillator, Stability, Voltage-Controlled
Oscillations in Neurons
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