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Mode Locking & Arnold Tongues

0.500
Winding Number
No
Mode Locked
1/2
Nearest Ratio
0.50
Coupling K
0.500
0.50
1.00

Circle Map & Arnold Tongue Mode Locking

The circle map models a driven oscillator. Mode locking occurs when the winding number locks to a rational p/q: the system cycles in q periods of the driver for every p cycles of itself.

Circle map: θ_{n+1} = θ_n + Ω − (K/2π)sin(2πθ_n) (mod 1)
Winding number: W = lim_{n→∞} θ_n/n (rotation number)
Arnold tongues: regions in (Ω, K) space where W = p/q (locked)

At K=0, the winding number equals Ω (quasiperiodic for irrational Ω). At K>0, Arnold tongues open around each rational Ω=p/q. The most prominent tongue is W=1/2 (period doubling). At K=1 (critical), the tongues cover a Cantor set — devil's staircase. Above K=1, the map is non-invertible and chaos emerges.

Applications: cardiac arrhythmias, Josephson junctions, mode-locked lasers, planetary orbital resonances.