A fully-coupled subwavelength resonance approach to modelling the passive cochlea

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to understand the behaviour of a large number of coupled subwavelength resonators. We use layer potential techniques in combination with numerical computations to study the acoustic pressure field due to scattering by a graded array of subwavelength resonators. Using this method, we study a graded-resonance model for the cochlea. We compute the resonant modes of the system and explore the model's ability to decompose incoming signals. We are able to offer mathematical explanations for the cochlea's so-called "travelling wave" behaviour and tonotopic frequency map.