Chaotic synchronization induced by external noise in coupled limit cycle oscillators

Abstract: A solvable model of noise effects on globally coupled limit cycle oscillators is proposed. The oscillators are under the influence of independent and additive white Gaussian noise. The averaged motion equation of the system with infinitely coupled oscillators is derived without any approximation through an analysis based on the nonlinear Fokker--Planck equation. Chaotic synchronization associated with the appearance of macroscopic chaotic behavior is shown by investigating the changes in averaged motion with increasing noise intensity.