We discuss the emergence of oscillations in overdamped undriven
nonlinear dynamic systems subject to carefully crafted coupling
schemes and operating conditions. Here we summarize results for a
system of N=3 coupled ferromagnetic cores, the underpinning of a
"coupled-core fluxgate magnetometer" (CCFM); the oscillatory
behaviour is triggered when the coupling constant exceeds a
threshold value (bifurcation point), and the oscillation frequency
exhibits a characteristic scaling behaviour with the magnitude of
the deviation of the coupling constant from its threshold value,
as well as with an external "target" dc magnetic flux signal. We
also present the first (numerical) results from our investigations
into the large N case where background noise is seen to mediate
interesting spatio-temporal cooperative behavior.
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