Clusters in a chain of coupled oscillators behave like a single oscillator: Relevance to spontaneous otoacoustic emissions from human ears

Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) provide startling evidence that there is an active process at the core of the mammalian cochlea, but the mechanism involved is unclear. Models involving single, active Van der Pol oscillators have found favor, but here we extend the system to a chain of coupled, active nonlinear oscillators. It is found that the inherent clustering of oscillators in the chain produces an effect in which each cluster, or frequency plateau, behaves just like a single oscillator, most clearly in terms of phase lock to external tones and phase slip in the presence of noise.