Collective modes of three coupled relaxation oscillators: The influence of detuning

The dynamics of a ring of three relaxation oscillators symmetrically coupled in the slow variable is considered both experimentally and by means of numerical simulations. It is shown that apart from the synchronous oscillation the basic set of periodic attractors typical for identical oscillators is not essentially affected by a small detuning. However, detuning creates a large set of new collective modes which are characterized by larger system periods and a variety of phase relations between the oscillators. Comparisons of the experimental data with different oscillator models reveal that the results do not crucially depend on the specific features of the models and possible experimental uncertainties.