Basins of attraction of a nonlinear nanomechanical resonator

TL;DR

This study experimentally maps the basins of attraction in a nonlinear nanomechanical resonator, revealing how they change with drive strength and are affected by ambient noise, with results aligning well with theory.

Contribution

It provides high-resolution experimental mapping of basins of attraction in a nonlinear nanomechanical resonator and compares them with theoretical predictions.

Findings

Basins of attraction change shape with drive strength.

Ambient noise causes blurring of the separatrix.

Experimental results agree with theoretical calculations.

Abstract

We present an experiment that systematically probes the basins of attraction of two fixed points of a nonlinear nanomechanical resonator and maps them out with high resolution. We observe a separatrix which progressively alters shape for varying drive strength and changes the relative areas of the two basins of attraction. The observed separatrix is blurred due to ambient fluctuations, including residual noise in the drive system, which cause uncertainty in the preparation of an initial state close to the separatrix. We find a good agreement between the experimentally mapped and theoretically calculated basins of attraction.