Re: Relative periodicity of non-harmonic oscillators
In a mode locked ultra-short pulse laser we're commonly synchronising a very large number of modes indeed, so except for the moment when they all come into synchronism the number that happen to add together never gets big enough to matter much. But in lasers which are oscillating on relatively few modes you can indeed see mode-beating effects which are similar to the behaviour of subsets of your pendulums.
(I should say the Roger and I both worked at the same laser institution for quite a while !)
Cheers,
GJ
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