Noise enhanced phase synchronization and coherence resonance in sets of chaotic oscillators with weak global coupling

The effect of noise on phase synchronization in small sets and larger populations of weakly coupled chaotic oscillators is explored. Both independent and correlated noise are found to enhance phase synchronization of two coupled chaotic oscillators below the synchronization threshold; this is in contrast to the behavior of two coupled periodic oscillators. This constructive effect of noise results from the interplay between noise and the locking features of unstable periodic orbits. We show that in a population of nonidentical chaotic oscillators, correlated noise enhances synchronization in the weak coupling region. The interplay between noise and weak coupling induces a collective motion in which the coherence is maximal at an optimal noise intensity. Both the noise-enhanced phase synchronization and the coherence resonance numerically observed in coupled chaotic R?ssler oscillators are verified experimentally with an array of chaotic electrochemical oscillators.     

Stochastic phase dynamics and noise-induced mixed-mode oscillations in coupled oscillators

Synaptically coupled neurons show in-phase or antiphase synchrony depending on the chemical and dynamical nature of the synapse. Deterministic theory helps predict the phase differences between two phase-locked oscillators when the coupling is weak. In the presence of noise, however, deterministic theory faces difficulty when the coexistence of multiple stable oscillatory solutions occurs. We analyze the solution structure of two coupled neuronal oscillators for parameter values between a subcritical Hopf bifurcation point and a saddle node point of the periodic branch that bifurcates from the Hopf point, where a rich variety of coexisting solutions including asymmetric localized oscillations occurs. We construct these solutions via a multiscale analysis and explore the general bifurcation scenario using the lambda-omega model. We show for both excitatory and inhibitory synapses that noise causes important changes in the phase and amplitude dynamics of such coupled neuronal oscillators when multiple oscillatory solutions coexist. Mixed-mode oscillations occur when distinct bistable solutions are randomly visited. The phase difference between the coupled oscillators in the localized solution, coexisting with in-phase or antiphase solutions, is clearly represented in the stochastic phase dynamics.     

Uncertainty principle for control of ensembles of oscillators driven by common noise

We discuss control techniques for noisy self-sustained oscillators with a focus on reliability, stability of the response to noisy driving, and oscillation coherence understood in the sense of constancy of oscillation frequency. For any kind of linear feedback control — single and recursive delay feedback, linear frequency filter, etc. — the phase diffusion constant, quantifying coherence, and the Lyapunov exponent, quantifying reliability, can be efficiently controlled but their ratio remains constant. Thus, an “uncertainty principle” can be formulated: the loss of reliability occurs when coherence is enhanced and, vice versa, coherence is weakened when reliability is enhanced. Treatment of this principle for ensembles of oscillators synchronized by common noise or global coupling reveals a substantial difference between the cases of slightly non-identical oscillators and identical ones with intrinsic noise.     

n:m phase synchronization with mutual coupling phase signals

We generalize the n:m phase synchronization between two chaotic oscillators by mutual coupling phase signals. To characterize this phenomenon, we use two coupled oscillators to demonstrate their phase synchronization with amplitudes practically noncorrelated. We take the 1:1 phase synchronization as an example to show the properties of mean frequencies, mean phase difference, and Lyapunov exponents at various values of coupling strength. The phase difference increases with 2pi phase slips below the transition. The scaling rules of the slip near and away from the transition are studied. Furthermore, we demonstrate the transition to a variety of n:m phase synchronizations and analyze the corresponding coupling dynamics. (c) 2002 American Institute of Physics.     

Interplay of noise and coupling in heterogeneous ensembles of phase oscillators

We study the effects of noise on the collective dynamics of an ensemble of coupled phase oscillators whose natural frequencies are all identical, but whose coupling strengths are not the same all over the ensemble. The intensity of noise can also be heterogeneous, representing diversity in the individual responses to external fluctuations. We show that the desynchronization transition induced by noise may be completely suppressed, even for arbitrarily large noise intensities, is the distribution of coupling strengths decays slowly enough for large couplings. Equivalently, if the response to noise of a sufficiently large fraction of the ensemble is weak enough, desynchronization cannot occur. The two effects combine with each other when the response to noise and the coupling strength of each oscillator are correlated. This combination is quantitatively characterized and illustrated with explicit examples.     

Order-by-disorder in classical oscillator systems

We consider classical nonlinear oscillators on hexagonal lattices. When the coupling between the elements is repulsive, we observe coexisting states, each one with its own basin of attraction. These states differ by their degree of synchronization and by patterns of phase-locked motion. When disorder is introduced into the system by additive or multiplicative Gaussian noise, we observe a non-monotonic dependence of the degree of order in the system as a function of the noise intensity: intervals of noise intensity with low synchronization between the oscillators alternate with intervals where more oscillators are synchronized. In the latter case, noise induces a higher degree of order in the sense of a larger number of nearly coinciding phases. This order-by-disorder effect is reminiscent to the analogous phenomenon known from spin systems. Surprisingly, this non-monotonic evolution of the degree of order is found not only for a single interval of intermediate noise strength, but repeatedly as a function of increasing noise intensity. We observe noise-driven migration of oscillator phases in a rough potential landscape.     

Glassy synchronization in a population of coupled oscillators

A phase model for a population of oscillators with random excitatory and inhibitory mean-field coupling and subject to external white noise random forces is proposed and studied. In the thermodynamic limit different stable phases for the oscillator population may be found: (i) an incoherent state where all possible values of an oscillator phase are equally probable, (ii) a synchronized state where the population has a nonzero collective phase; (iii) a glassy phase where the global synchronization is zero but the oscillators are in phase with the random disorder; and (iv) a mixed phase where the oscillators are partially synchronized and partially in phase with the disorder. These predictions are based upon bifurcation analysis of the reduced equation valid at the thermodynamic limit and confirmed by Brownian simulation.     

Synchronization and structure in an adaptive oscillator network

We analyze the interplay of synchronization and structure evolution in an evolving network of phase oscillators. An initially random network is adaptively rewired according to the dynamical coherence of the oscillators, in order to enhance their mutual synchronization. We show that the evolving network reaches a small-world structure. Its clustering coefficient attains a maximum for an intermediate intensity of the coupling between oscillators, where a rich diversity of synchronized oscillator groups is observed. In the stationary state, these synchronized groups are directly associated with network clusters.     

Synchronization of coupled oscillators on small-world networks

We investigate the synchronous dynamics of Kuramoto oscillators and van der Pol oscillators on Watts-Strogatz type small-world networks. The order parameters to characterize macroscopic synchronization are calculated by numerical integration. We focus on the difference between frequency synchronization and phase synchronization. In both oscillator systems, the critical coupling strength of the phase order is larger than that of the frequency order for the small-world networks. The critical coupling strength for the phase and frequency synchronization diverges as the network structure approaches the regular one. For the Kuramoto oscillators, the behavior can be described by a power-law function and the exponents are obtained for the two synchronizations. The separation of the critical point between the phase and frequency synchronizations is found only for small-world networks in the theoretical models studied.     

Construction of Arnold tongue structures for coupled periodic oscillators

Arnold tongue structures generated due to the mutual entrainment of two periodic oscillators are studied experimentally and numerically. This mutual entrainment is provoked due to the mutual (bidirectional) coupling between the two oscillators. In experiments, this bidirectional coupling is achieved by immersing a pair of anodes (oscillators) in a common electrolytic solution. A voltage mismatch between these anodes renders the time period of the uncoupled oscillators non-identical. Moreover, the coupling strength between the two oscillators is uniquely determined by the Euclidean distance separating them. Systematically varying the distance between these two anodes as a function of their voltage mismatch, phase locked domains were located. Subsequently, Arnold tongue structures were constructed in the experiments. Numerical simulations, using a model for electrochemical corrosion, corroborate our experimental findings.     

Multiscale dynamics in communities of phase oscillators

We investigate the dynamics of systems of many coupled phase oscillators with heterogeneous frequencies. We suppose that the oscillators occur in M groups. Each oscillator is connected to other oscillators in its group with "attractive" coupling, such that the coupling promotes synchronization within the group. The coupling between oscillators in different groups is "repulsive," i.e., their oscillation phases repel. To address this problem, we reduce the governing equations to a lower-dimensional form via the ansatz of Ott and Antonsen, Chaos 18, 037113 (2008). We first consider the symmetric case where all group parameters are the same, and the attractive and repulsive coupling are also the same for each of the M groups. We find a manifold L of neutrally stable equilibria, and we show that all other equilibria are unstable. For M?≥?3, L has dimension M?-?2, and for M?=?2, it has dimension 1. To address the general asymmetric case, we then introduce small deviations from symmetry in the group and coupling parameters. Doing a slow/fast timescale analysis, we obtain slow time evolution equations for the motion of the M groups on the manifold L. We use these equations to study the dynamics of the groups and compare the results with numerical simulations.     

Electrical measurement of spin-wave interactions of proximate spin transfer nanooscillators

We have investigated the interaction mechanism between two nanocontact spin transfer oscillators made on the same magnetic spin valve multilayer. The oscillators phase lock when their precession frequencies are made similar, and a giant magnetoresistance signal is detectable at one contact due to precession at the other. Cutting the magnetic mesa between the contacts with a focused-ion beam modifies the contact outputs, eliminates the phase locking, and strongly attenuates the magnetoresistance coupling, which indicates that spin waves rather than magnetic fields are the primary interaction mechanism.     

Repulsive synchronization in an array of phase oscillators

We study the dynamics of a repulsively coupled array of phase oscillators. For an array of globally coupled identical oscillators, repulsive coupling results in a family of synchronized regimes characterized by zero mean field. If the number of oscillators is sufficiently large, phase locking among oscillators is destroyed, independently of the coupling strength, when the oscillators' natural frequencies are not the same. In locally coupled networks, however, phase locking occurs even for nonidentical oscillators when the coupling strength is sufficiently strong.     

Mechanisms of stochastic phase locking

Periodically driven nonlinear oscillators can exhibit a form of phase locking in which a well-defined feature of the motion occurs near a preferred phase of the stimulus, but a random number of stimulus cycles are skipped between its occurrences. This feature may be an action potential, or another crossing by a state variable of some specific value. This behavior can also occur when no apparent external periodic forcing is present. The phase preference is then measured with respect to a time scale internal to the system. Models of these behaviors are briefly reviewed, and new mechanisms are presented that involve the coupling of noise to the equations of motion. Our study investigates such stochastic phase locking near bifurcations commonly present in models of biological oscillators: (1) a supercritical and (2) a subcritical Hopf bifurcation, and, under autonomous conditions, near (3) a saddle-node bifurcation, and (4) chaotic behavior. Our results complement previous studies of aperiodic phase locking in which noise perturbs deterministic phase-locked motion. In our study however, we emphasize how noise can induce a stochastic phase-locked motion that does not have a similar deterministic counterpart. Although our study focuses on models of excitable and bursting neurons, our results are applicable to other oscillators, such as those discussed in the respiratory and cardiac literatures. (c) 1995 American Institute of Physics.     

Reconstructing phase dynamics of oscillator networks

We generalize our recent approach to the reconstruction of phase dynamics of coupled oscillators from data [B. Kralemann et al., Phys. Rev. E 77, 066205 (2008)] to cover the case of small networks of coupled periodic units. Starting from a multivariate time series, we first reconstruct genuine phases and then obtain the coupling functions in terms of these phases. Partial norms of these coupling functions quantify directed coupling between oscillators. We illustrate the method by different network motifs for three coupled oscillators and for random networks of five and nine units. We also discuss nonlinear effects in coupling.     

Chaos suppression through asymmetric coupling

We study pairs of identical coupled chaotic oscillators. In particular, we have used Roessler (in the funnel and no funnel regimes), Lorenz, and four-dimensional chaotic Lotka-Volterra models. In all four of these cases, a pair of identical oscillators is asymmetrically coupled. The main result of the numerical simulations is that in all cases, specific values of coupling strength and asymmetry exist that render the two oscillators periodic and synchronized. The values of the coupling strength for which this phenomenon occurs is well below the previously known value for complete synchronization. We have found that this behavior exists for all the chaotic oscillators that we have used in the analysis. We postulate that this behavior is presumably generic to all chaotic oscillators. In order to complete the study, we have tested the robustness of this phenomenon of chaos suppression versus the addition of some Gaussian noise. We found that chaos suppression is robust for the addition of finite noise level. Finally, we propose some extension to this research.     

Noise-induced synchronization and clustering in ensembles of uncoupled limit-cycle oscillators

We study synchronization properties of general uncoupled limit-cycle oscillators driven by common and independent Gaussian white noises. Using phase reduction and averaging methods, we analytically derive the stationary distribution of the phase difference between oscillators for weak noise intensity. We demonstrate that in addition to synchronization, clustering, or more generally coherence, always results from arbitrary initial conditions, irrespective of the details of the oscillators.     

Dynamical hysteresis and spatial synchronization in coupled non-identical chaotic oscillators

We identify a novel phenomenon in distinct (namely non-identical) coupled chaotic systems, which we term dynamical hysteresis. This behavior, which appears to be universal, is defined in terms of the system dynamics (quantified for example through the Lyapunov exponents), and arises from the presence of at least two coexisting stable attractors over a finite range of coupling, with a change of stability outside this range. Further characterization via mutual synchronization indices reveals that one attractor corresponds to spatially synchronized oscillators, while the other corresponds to desynchronized oscillators. Dynamical hysteresis may thus help to understand critical aspects of the dynamical behavior of complex biological systems, e.g. seizures in the epileptic brain can be viewed as transitions between different dynamical phases caused by time dependence in the brain’s internal coupling.