Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Van Der Pol Oscillator As A Model Of The Hair Cell Auditory Response: A Numerical Study, Thomas Yocono

Physics

Hair cells, which detect and encode sound stimuli, have been shown to have a non-linear response and self sustaining oscillations. Here, we look at the Van der Pol oscillator, which has these properties, and numerically calculate its response to multiple driving frequencies. Any nonlinear system's response to multiple driving frequencies will have not just the driving frequencies present, but also combination tones, or heterodyne frequencies, which have order defined by the number of driving frequency combinations. This phenomenon has been experimentally confirmed in the human auditory response [1]. In the frequency specture of the Van der Pol steady state response …