High frequency forcing on nonlinear systems

High-frequency signals are pervasive in many science and engineering fields. In this work, the effect of high-frequency driving on general nonlinear systems is investigated, and an effective equation for the slow motion is derived by extending the inertial approximation for the direct separation of fast and slow motions. Based on this theory, a high-frequency force can induce various phase transitions of a system by changing its amplitude and frequency. Numerical simulations on several nonlinear oscillator systems show very good agreements with the theoretic result. These findings may shed light on our understanding of the dynamics of nonlinear systems subject to a periodic force.