Experiments on a coupled oscillator

The theory of a symmetric and asymmetric coupled oscillator circuit with an arbitrary initial condition was verified by a novel experimental technique. The key for the success of these experiments is the use of the analog switches. These new electronic devices are very fast and have very low contact resistance when closed. With the help of these novel switches, one can set up any initial condition and place the circuit in a configuration identical to the one studied in theory, allowing direct comparison between theory and experiment. This new approach can be easily extended to other more complicated circuits. The technique is especially useful in studying the transient states of an electrical system and chaos in a nonlinear coupled oscillator, both of which depend on the initial conditions.