oscillatorid

Oscillatorid is a unique identifier assigned to an oscillator unit within a computational model, used to reference its state and parameters across simulation steps and data logs. It serves as an internal handle that remains stable as long as the oscillator persists, enabling consistent indexing of arrays for frequency, phase, amplitude, and coupling terms.

The oscillatorid is distinct from network or cell identifiers, which reference position or connections in a topology. Instead, the oscillatorid focuses on the dynamical unit itself, providing a stable key for retrieving and updating its time-dependent variables and parameters regardless of changes in the surrounding structure.

Representation and generation: an oscillatorid can be numeric, such as an auto-incrementing integer, or alphanumeric, such as a UUID, depending on the software framework. It is typically assigned at creation time and retained for the oscillator’s lifetime, although it may be invalidated if the oscillator is removed or replaced.

Use cases: in large-scale simulations of coupled oscillators, oscillatorids facilitate efficient data retrieval, logging, and state restoration. They support operations like saving and loading simulations, parallel computation, and referencing specific units for parameter scans and experiments.

Relationship to related concepts: while similar in function to a node identifier, the oscillatorid emphasizes a unit’s dynamical role rather than its network position. It is commonly used with time series data, phase models, or state-space representations. See also unique identifier, UUID, oscillator, coupled oscillator, phase model.