A mean-field approach to elastically coupled hair bundles.

We study the dynamics of oscillatory hair bundles which are coupled elastically in their deflection variable and are subject to noise. We present a stochastic description capturing the dynamics of the hair bundles' mean field. In particular, the presented derivation elucidates the origin of the previously described noise reduction by coupling. By comparison of simulations of the approximate dynamics and the full system, we verify our results. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the specific type of coupling considered implies coupling-induced changes in the dynamics beyond mere noise reduction.