title: Plastic bottle oscillator as an on-off-type oscillator: experiments, modeling, and stability analyses of single and coupled systems.
abstract: An oscillatory system called a plastic bottle oscillator is studied, in which the downflow of water and upflow of air alternate periodically in an upside-down plastic bottle containing water. It is demonstrated that a coupled two-bottle system exhibits in- and antiphase synchronization according to the nature of coupling. A simple ordinary differential equation is deduced to interpret the characteristics of a single oscillator. This model is also extended to coupled oscillators, and the model reproduces the essential features of the experimental observations.
authors.affiliation: Japan Space Forum, Kandasurugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0062, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Kohira
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kitahata
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Magome
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa