Sensitivity Analysis of Oscillator Models in the Space of Phase-Response Curves: Oscillators As Open Systems

Oscillator models-whose steady-state behavior is periodic rather than constant-are fundamental to rhythmic modeling, and they appear in many areas of engineering, physics, chemistry, and biology [1]-[6]. Many oscillators are, by nature, open dynamical systems in that they interact with their environment [7]. Whether functioning as clocks, information transmitters, or rhythm generators, these oscillators have the robust ability to respond to a particular input (entrainment) and to behave collectively in a network (synchronization or clustering).