UBC Math-Bio Seminar: Shan Gao

Tipping points refer to abrupt, substantial, and often irreversible transitions in dynamic systems that can be triggered by perturbations. Existing tipping mechanisms are usually classified by the nature of the trigger: bifurcation-induced tipping occurs when a parameter crosses a critical threshold, noise-induced tipping is caused by random perturbations, rate-induced tipping occurs when a system fails to track a moving attractor, and phase-induced tipping depends on the timing of perturbations relative to an oscillatory state. In this paper, we identify a distinct deterministic mechanism: frequency-induced tipping, in which periodic forcing drives a transition through resonant amplification even though the forcing range remains entirely within parameter values that are safe when held fixed.