Synchronization in flickering of three-coupled candle flames

Abstract

When two or more candle flames are fused by approaching them together, the resulting large flame often exhibits flickering, i.e., prolonged high-frequency oscillation in its size and luminance. In the present work, we investigate the collective behaviour of three-coupled candle flame oscillators in a triangular arrangement. The system showed four distinct types of syncronised modes as a consequence of spontaneous symmetry breaking. The modes obtained include the in-phase mode, the partial in-phase mode, the rotation mode, and an anomalous one called the “death” mode that causes a sudden stop of the flame oscillation followed by self-sustained stable combustion. We also clarified the correlation between the inter-flame distance and the frequency with which the modes occur.

Vortex-dynamical interpretation of anti-phase and in-phase flickering of dual buoyant diffusion flames

“…Flickering also exists in multi-flame systems. Recent experimental studies [25][26][27][28][29] have reported that for candle or jet flames in pairs or arrays the flickering of each individual flame spontaneously synchronizes with each other, rendering special synchronized flickering modes. According to Kitahata et al [25], the interaction between two side-by-side oscillating flames exhibits two distinct modes, inphase and anti-phase, depending on the distance between the flames.…”

“…Forrester [27] experimentally identified an initial-arch-bow-initial "worship" oscillation mode for four candles arranged within a closed loop. Okamoto et al [28] reported four distinct synchronized flickering modes for three coupled candle flames in a triangular array. Despite the complexity of these multi-flame systems, the crucial component of them is the interaction of a dual-flame system, which is largely affected by the gap distance.…”

“…Despite the complexity of these multi-flame systems, the crucial component of them is the interaction of a dual-flame system, which is largely affected by the gap distance. Researchers proposed hypotheses to explain the coupling interaction by using the Hopf bifurcation theory based on heat transfer [25] and the conceptualized vortex-based conjecture [28]. However, no evidence of the flow field was provided to substantiate these hypotheses.…”

Unveiling the curtain of superposition: Recent gedanken and laboratory experiments

“…The retrodiction thus turns into a standard prediction: In all cases where the shutter's post-selection succeeds, the test particle is reflected from all the N-1 boxes, demonstrating the shutter's simultaneous existence in all of them. Okamoto and Takeuchi [4] have recently tested this prediction of the TSVF for N=3 in a quantum optics setup employing a novel quantum router [5] which enables the shutter and the probe photon to indirectly interact. Their results show that the shutter did not randomly occupy one of the two boxes, but rather (within experimental accuracy limitations) reflected a photon from both.…”

“…Based on the Okamoto-Takeuchi [4] realization of Aharonov and Vaidman's protocol [2], our proposal for a realization of the disappearing-reappearing particle naturally follows [8].…”