Phase coherence in an ensemble of uncoupled limit-cycle oscillators receiving common Poisson impulses

An ensemble of uncoupled limit-cycle oscillators receiving common Poisson impulses shows a range of nontrivial behavior, from synchronization, desynchronization, to clustering. The group behavior that arises in the ensemble can be predicted from the phase response of a single oscillator to a given impulsive perturbation. We present a theory based on phase reduction of a jump stochastic process describing a Poisson-driven limit-cycle oscillator, and verify the results through numerical simulations and electric circuit experiments. We also give a geometrical interpretation of the synchronizing mechanism, a perturbative expansion to the stationary phase distribution, and the diffusion limit of our jump stochastic model.