Synchronization of Pulse-Coupled Biological Oscillators¶
Mirollo, R. E., & Strogatz, S. H. (1990). Synchronization of Pulse-Coupled Biological Oscillators. SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, 50(6), 1645-1662.
Cited by¶
4 citations across 4 artifacts.
Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.
Primes¶
- Rhythm
- The transfer runs in both directions: organizational designers borrow entrainment from biology, and analysts of physiological rhythm borrow the language of grouping and accent from music.
This sourceProves that populations of pulse-coupled oscillators (e.g., synchronously flashing fireflies) entrain to a common rhythm for almost all initial conditions; foundational basis for entrainment transferring from biological to organizational coordination.
- The transfer runs in both directions: organizational designers borrow entrainment from biology, and analysts of physiological rhythm borrow the language of grouping and accent from music.
- Synchronization
- Synchronization requires ongoing coupling: oscillators adapt to each other, not just to an external standard, as Mirollo and Strogatz (1990) demonstrate in their pulse-coupled firefly model where local interactions—not shared time—drive collective phase lock.
This sourceProves that populations of pulse-coupled oscillators (e.g., synchronously flashing fireflies) entrain to a common rhythm for almost all initial conditions; foundational basis for entrainment transferring from biological to organizational coordination.
Supported in partVerified against the publisher's abstract
The abstract supports a pulsatile-coupling model in which almost all initial conditions synchronize (fireflies among the examples); it does not show that coupling is required.
“The coupling between oscillators is pulsatile: when a given oscillator fires, it pulls the others up by a fixed amount, or brings them to the firing threshold, whichever is less. The main result is that for almost all initial conditions, the population evolves to a state in which all the oscillators are firing synchronously.”
- Synchronization requires ongoing coupling: oscillators adapt to each other, not just to an external standard, as Mirollo and Strogatz (1990) demonstrate in their pulse-coupled firefly model where local interactions—not shared time—drive collective phase lock.
- Temporal Synchronization and Phase Alignment
- Out-of-phase flashing (e.g., flashing when neighbors are dark) never locks.
This sourceProves that populations of pulse-coupled oscillators (e.g., synchronously flashing fireflies) entrain to a common rhythm for almost all initial conditions; foundational basis for entrainment transferring from biological to organizational coordination.
Supported in partVerified against the publisher's abstract
Abstract supplies the Mirollo-Strogatz convergence theorem (pulse-coupled firefly oscillators reach synchronous firing for almost all initial conditions), not the specific assertion that out-of-phase flashing never locks.
“The main result is that for almost all initial conditions, the population evolves to a state in which all the oscillators are firing synchronously.”
- Out-of-phase flashing (e.g., flashing when neighbors are dark) never locks.
Mechanisms¶
- Adaptive Pulse-Coupled Update
- The result is a firefly-style common pulse
This sourceShows that a population of mutually pulse-coupled oscillators can evolve to synchronous firing without a master oscillator.
- The result is a firefly-style common pulse
Verification¶
Does it exist? Confirmed. This work's DOI resolves to a registered record, which fixes its identity. That is all it fixes.
Does it back the claim? Read against the text for 2 of 4 citations: 2 supported in part. Each verdict is shown under its citation below, with what in the work backs the sentence.
Support is checked per citation rather than per work — the same source can be cited soundly in one article and wrongly in another. Per-citation recording began recently, so a citation with no recorded check is a gap in the record rather than evidence it went unchecked.
See how references were verified.
Registry ID ref:1ca0c4d6799e · see in the full table