Spatial phase sensitivity for oscillators close to the saddle-node homoclinic bifurcation

Abstract: The traditional phase sensitivity function (PSF) has manifested its efficacy in investigating synchronization behaviors for limit-cycle oscillators. However, some subtle details may be ignored when the phase value is accumulated in space or the perturbation is space-dependent. In this paper, we compared spatial PSF with the traditional PSF for oscillators close to the saddle-node homoclinic (SNH) bifurcation, also known as saddle-node on invariant circle (SNIC) bifurcation. It is found that the spatial phase sensitivity function could reveal the phase accumulation feature on the limit cycle. Moreover, it is proved that for any two-dimensional smooth dynamical system, type II phase response curve is the only possible type. Finally, the synchronization distributions of uncoupled SNH oscillator driven by common and independent noises are studied, which shows the space-dependent coupling function of common noise could have significant influences on the synchronization behavior.