Noise-induced distortion of nonequilibrium oscillator mean limit cycle

Under general conditions imposed on an active stochastic oscillator, we study change in the size and shape of its average limit cycle as a function of temperature. Such dynamics occur in a multitude of nonequilibrium systems, including the spontaneous oscillations of hair cells of the inner ear. We demonstrate one of the many mechanisms through which distortion of the mean curve may occur and identify regions in the driven oscillator phase space susceptible to corner-cutting due to noise. This we infer causes rounding of certain sharp features in the noiseless curve given by the underlying complex theoretical model, making them inaccessible under any amount of averaging of the experimentally obtained finite-temperature trajectory.