Experimental Evidence of Amplitude Death and Phase-Flip Bifurcation between In-Phase and Anti-Phase Synchronization

Nonlinear phenomena emerging from the coupled behaviour of a pair of oscillators have attracted considerable research attention over the years, of which, amplitude death (AD) and phase-flip bifurcation (PFB) are two noteworthy examples. Although theoretical research has postulated the coexistence of AD and PFB upon variation of different control parameters, such an occurrence has not been reported in practical systems. Here, we provide the first experimental evidence of the coexistence of AD and PFB in a physical system, comprising of a coupled pair of candle-flame oscillators. As the strength of coupling between the oscillators is increased, we report a decrease in the span of AD region between the states of in-phase and anti-phase oscillations, leading up to a point of PFB. Understanding such a switching of phenomena between AD and PFB helps us to evade their undesirable occurrences such as AD in neuron and brain cells, oscillatory state in prey-predator systems, oscillatory spread of epidemics and so forth.