Mode-locking in driven disordered systems as a boundary-value problem

We study mode-locking in disordered media as a boundary-value problem. Focusing on the simplest class of mode-locking models that consists of a single driven overdamped degree-of-freedom, we develop an analytical method to obtain the shape of the Arnol'd tongues in the regime of low AC-driving amplitude or high AC-driving frequency. The method is exact for a scalloped pinning potential and easily adapted to other pinning potentials. It is complementary to the analysis based on the well-known Shapiro's argument that holds in the perturbative regime of large driving amplitudes or low driving frequency where the effect of pinning is weak.