Synchronization in complex clustered networks

Synchronization in complex networks has been an active area of research in recent years. While much effort has been devoted to networks with the small-world and scale-free topology, structurally they are often assumed to have a single, densely connected component. Recently it has also become apparent that many networks in social, biological, and technological systems are clustered, as characterized by a number (or a hierarchy) of sparsely linked clusters, each with dense and complex internal connections. Synchronization is fundamental to the dynamics and functions of complex clustered networks, but this problem has just begun to be addressed. This paper reviews some progress in this direction by focusing on the interplay between the clustered topology and network synchronizability. In particular, there are two parameters characterizing a clustered network: the intra-cluster and the inter-cluster link density. Our goal is to clarify the roles of these parameters in shaping network synchronizability. By using theoretical analysis and direct numerical simulations of oscillator networks, it is demonstrated that clustered networks with random inter-cluster links are more synchronizable, and synchronization can be optimized when inter-cluster and intra-cluster links match. The latter result has one counterintuitive implication: more links, if placed improperly, can actually lead to destruction of synchronization, even though such links tend to decrease the average network distance. It is hoped that this review will help attract attention to the fundamental problem of clustered structures/synchronization in network science.      

耦合含时滞的相互依存网络的局部自适应异质同步

针对由两个子网络构成的耦合含时滞的相互依存网络,研究其局部自适应异质同步问题.时滞同时存在于两个子网络的内部耦合项和子网络间的一对一相互依赖耦合项中,且网络的耦合关系满足非线性特性和光滑性.基于李雅普诺夫稳定性理论、线性矩阵不等式方法和自适应控制技术,通过对子网络设置合适的控制器,提出了使得相互依存网络的子网络分别同步到异质孤立系统的充分条件.针对小世界网络和无标度网络构成的相互依存网络进行数值模拟,验证了提出理论的正确性和有效性.     

Generalized synchronization of coupled chaotic systems

In this paper we briefly report some recent developments on generalized synchronization. We discuss different methods of detecting generalized synchronization. We first consider two unidirectionally coupled systems and then two mutually coupled systems. We then extend the study to a network of coupled systems. In the study of generalized synchronization of coupled nonidentical systems we discuss the Master Stability Function (MSF) formalism for coupled nearly identical systems. Later we use this MSF to construct synchronized optimized networks. In the optimized networks the nodes which have parameter value at one extreme are chosen as hubs and the pair of nodes with larger difference in parameter are chosen to create links.     

Adaptive generalized matrix projective lag synchronization between two different complex networks with non-identical nodes and different dimensions

<正>The adaptive generalized matrix projective lag synchronization between two different complex networks with non-identical nodes and different dimensions is investigated in this paper.Based on Lyapunov stability theory and Barbalat’s lemma,generalized matrix projective lag synchronization criteria are derived by using the adaptive control method.Furthermore,each network can be undirected or directed,connected or disconnected,and nodes in either network may have identical or different dynamics.The proposed strategy is applicable to almost all kinds of complex networks.In addition,numerical simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of this method,showing that the synchronization speed is sensitively influenced by the adaptive law strength,the network size,and the network topological structure.     

Pinning control of complex dynamical networks with general topology

Recently, the researches on pinning control of complex dynamical networks have mainly focused on such networks with very specific coupling schemes (e.g., symmetric coupling, uniform coupling and linear coupling). However, most real networks often consist of local units, which interact with each other via asymmetric and heterogeneous connections. In this paper, pinning control of a continuous-time complex dynamical network with general coupling topologies is studied. Some generic stability criteria based on master stability function (MSF) are derived for such a general controlled network, which guarantee that the whole network can be pinned to its equilibrium by placing feedback control only on a small fraction of nodes. Then, these results are extended to discrete-time case. Previous results about symmetric, uniform or linear coupled networks in this area are included as special cases of the present work. Numerical simulations of directed networks with weighted coupling pinned by specifically selective pinning scheme are given for illustration and verification.     

复杂网络上动力系统同步的研究进展

本文简要介绍复杂网络的基本概念并详细总结了近年来复杂网络上动力学系统的同步的研究进展，主要内容有复杂网络同步的稳定性分析，复杂网络上动力学系统同步的特点，网络的几何特征量对同步稳定性的影响，以及提高网络同步能力的方法等。最后文章提出了这一领域的几个有待解决的问题及可能的发展方向。     

Enhancing the network synchronizability

The structural and dynamical properties, particularly the small-world effect and scale-free feature, of complex networks have attracted tremendous interest and attention in recent years. This article offers a brief review of one focal issue concerning the structural and dynamical behaviors of complex network synchronization. In the presentation, the notions of synchronization of dynamical systems on networks, stability of dynamical networks, and relationships between network structure and synchronizability, will be first introduced. Then, various technical methods for enhancing the network synchronizability will be discussed, which are roughly divided into two classes: Structural Modification and Coupling-Pattern Regulation, where the former includes three typical methods—dividing hub nodes, shortening average distances, and deleting overload edges, while the latter mainly is a method of strengthening the hub-nodes’ influence on the network.      

Robust adaptive synchronization of uncertain and delayed dynamical complex networks with faulty network

<正>This paper presents a new robust adaptive synchronization method for a class of uncertain dynamical complex networks with network failures and coupling time-varying delays.Adaptive schemes are proposed to adjust controller parameters for the faulty network compensations,as well as to estimate the upper and lower bounds of delayed state errors and perturbations to compensate the effects of delay and perturbation on-line without assuming symmetry or irreducibility of networks.It is shown that,through Lyapunov stability theory,distributed adaptive controllers constructed by the adaptive schemes are successful in ensuring the achievement of asymptotic synchronization of networks in the present of faulty and delayed networks,and perturbation inputs.A Chua's circuit network example is finally given to show the effectiveness of the proposed synchronization criteria.     

Synchronization in complex delayed dynamical networks with impulsive effects

The present paper is mainly concerned with the issues of synchronization dynamics of complex delayed dynamical networks with impulsive effects. A general model of complex delayed dynamical networks with impulsive effects is formulated, which can well describe practical architectures of more realistic complex networks related to impulsive effects. Based on impulsive stability theory on delayed dynamical systems, some simple but less conservative criterion are derived for global synchronization of such dynamical network. It is shown that synchronization of the networks is heavily dependent on impulsive effects of connecting configuration in the networks. Furthermore, the theoretical results are applied to a typical SF network composing of impulsive coupled chaotic delayed Hopfield neural network nodes, and are also illustrated by numerical simulations.     

Synchronization in a power-driven moving agent network

Motivated by the fact that couplings between individual units of many real-world complex systems are relevant to energy, we propose a power-driven moving agent network model as a simple representation. The presented network exhibits a directed and time-varying topological structure, where each agent associated with a chaotic oscillator is depicted as a random walker in a planar space, and interactions among agents are established via communication by assigning different emission powers to them. To investigate the effect of power distribution, synchronization is further explored for the power-driven moving agent network. Under the constraint of fast-switching, we theoretically show that synchronization of the agent network is determined by the power density which is independent of both the power distribution and the size of network. Several numerical simulations are given to validate the acquired results.     

非线性网络的动力学复杂性研究

综述了非线性网络的动力学复杂性研究在网络理论、实证和应用方面所取得的主要进展和重要成果;深刻揭示了复杂网络的若干复杂性特征与基本定量规律;提出和建立了网络科学的统一混合理论体系(三部曲)和网络金字塔,并引入一类广义Farey组织的网络家族,阐明网络的复杂性-简单性与多样性-普适性之间转变关系;揭示了网络的拓扑结构特征与网络的动态特性之间关系;建立具有长程连接的规则网络的部分同步理论并应用于随机耦合的时空非线性系统的同步;提出复杂网络的动力学同步与控制多种方法;提出若干提高同步能力的模型、方法和途径,如同步最优和同步优先模型、同步与网络特征量关系、权重作用、叶子节点影响等;提出复杂混沌网络的多目标控制及具有小世界和无标度拓扑的束流输运网络的束晕-混沌控制方法;提出集群系统的自适应同步模型及蜂拥控制方法;探讨网络上拥塞与路由控制、资源博弈及不同类型网络上传播的若干规律;揭示含权经济科学家合作网及其演化特点;实证研究并揭示了多层次的高科技企业网和若干社会网络的特点;提出一种复杂网络的非平衡统计方法,把宏观网络推进到微观量子网络。     

Global synchronization in general complex delayed dynamical networks and its applications

The main objective of the present paper is further to investigate global synchronization of a general model of complex delayed dynamical networks. Based on stability theory on delayed dynamical systems, some simple yet less conservative criteria for both delay-independent and delay-dependent global synchronization of the networks are derived analytically. It is shown that under some conditions, if the uncoupled dynamical node is stable itself, then the network can be globally synchronized for any coupling delays as long as the coupling strength is small enough. On the other hand, if each dynamical node of the network is chaotic, then global synchronization of the networks is heavily dependent on the effects of coupling delays in addition to the connection configuration. Furthermore, the results are applied to some typical small-world (SW) and scale-free (SF) complex networks composing of coupled dynamical nodes such as the cellular neural networks (CNNs) and the chaotic FHN neuron oscillators, and numerical simulations are given to verify and also visualize the theoretical results.     

Geographical networks: geographical effects on network properties

Complex networks describe a wide range of systems in nature and society. Since most real systems exist in certain physical space and the distance between the nodes has influence on the connections, it is helpful to study geographical complex networks and to investigate how the geographical constrains on the connections affect the network properties. In this paper, we briefly review our recent progress on geographical complex networks with respect of statistics, modelling, robustness, and synchronizability. It has been shown that the geographical constrains tend to make the network less robust and less synchronizable. Synchronization on random networks and clustered networks is also studied.      

Synchronization in simple network motifs with negligible correlation and mutual information measures

Can different or even identical coupled oscillators be completely uncorrelated and still be synchronized? What can be concluded from the absence of correlations or even mutual information in networks of dynamical elements about their connectivity? These are fundamental and far-reaching questions arising in many complex systems. In this Letter, we address these two questions and demonstrate in simple and generic network motifs that synchronized behavior in the generalized sense can be realized and constructed such that no correlations and even negligible mutual information remain. Our findings raise new questions, in particular, whether and to what extent indirect connections are being underestimated, since the related collective behavior and even synchronization are less likely to be detected.     

Synchronization speed of identical oscillators on community networks

Synchronizability of complex oscillators networks has attracted much research interest in recent years. In contrast, in this paper we investigate numerically the synchronization speed, rather than the synchronizability or synchronization stability, of identical oscillators on complex networks with communities. A new weighted community network model is employed here, in which the community strength could be tunable by one parameter δ. The results showed that the synchronization speed of identical oscillators on community networks could reach a maximal value when δ is around 0.1. We argue that this is induced by the competition between the community partition and the scale-free property of the networks. Moreover, we have given the corresponding analysis through the second least eigenvalue λ₂ of the Laplacian matrix of the network which supports the previous result that the synchronization speed is determined by the value of λ₂.     

Combination projection synchronization of fractional-order complex dynamic networks with time-varying delay couplings and disturbances

In this paper, the problem of combination projection synchronization of fractional-order complex dynamic networks with time-varying delay couplings and external interferences is studied. Firstly, the definition of combination projection synchronization of fractional-order complex dynamic networks is given, and the synchronization problem of the drive-response systems is transformed into the stability problem of the error system. In addition, time-varying delays and disturbances are taken into consideration to make the network synchronization more practical and universal. Then, based on Lyapunov stability theory and fractional inequality theory, the adaptive controller is formulated to make the drive and response systems synchronization by the scaling factors. The controller is easier to realize because there is no time-delay term in the controller. At last, the corresponding simulation examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.     

Explosive synchronization: From synthetic to real-world networks

Synchronization is a widespread phenomenon in both synthetic and real-world networks. This collective behavior of simple and complex systems has been attracting much research during the last decades. Two different routes to synchrony are defined in networks; first-order, characterized as explosive, and second-order, characterized as continuous transition. Although pioneer researches explained that the transition type is a generic feature in the networks, recent studies proposed some frameworks in which different phase and even chaotic oscillators exhibit explosive synchronization. The relationship between the structural properties of the network and the dynamical features of the oscillators is mainly proclaimed because some of these frameworks show abrupt transitions. Despite different theoretical analyses about the appearance of the first-order transition, studies are limited to the mean-field theory, which cannot be generalized to all networks. There are different real-world and man-made networks whose properties can be characterized in terms of explosive synchronization, e.g., the transition from unconsciousness to wakefulness in the brain and spontaneous synchronization of power-grid networks. In this review article, explosive synchronization is discussed from two main aspects. First, pioneer articles are categorized from the dynamical-structural framework point of view. Then, articles that considered different oscillators in the explosive synchronization frameworks are studied. In this article, the main focus is on the explosive synchronization in networks with chaotic and neuronal oscillators. Also, efforts have been made to consider the recent articles which proposed new frameworks of explosive synchronization.     

Optimization of synchronization in complex clustered networks

There has been mounting evidence that many types of biological or technological networks possess a clustered structure. As many system functions depend on synchronization, it is important to investigate the synchronizability of complex clustered networks. Here we focus on one fundamental question: Under what condition can the network synchronizability be optimized? In particular, since the two basic parameters characterizing a complex clustered network are the probabilities of intercluster and intracluster connections, we investigate, in the corresponding two-dimensional parameter plane, regions where the network can be best synchronized. Our study yields a quite surprising finding: a complex clustered network is most synchronizable when the two probabilities match each other approximately. Mismatch, for instance caused by an overwhelming increase in the number of intracluster links, can counterintuitively suppress or even destroy synchronization, even though such an increase tends to reduce the average network distance. This phenomenon provides possible principles for optimal synchronization on complex clustered networks. We provide extensive numerical evidence and an analytic theory to establish the generality of this phenomenon.     

Complex network analysis in inclined oil--water two-phase flow

Complex networks have established themselves in recent years as being particularly suitable and flexible for representing and modelling many complex natural and artificial systems. Oil--water two-phase flow is one of the most complex systems. In this paper, we use complex networks to study the inclined oil--water two-phase flow. Two different complex network construction methods are proposed to build two types of networks, i.e. the flow pattern complex network (FPCN) and fluid dynamic complex network (FDCN). Through detecting the community structure of FPCN by the community-detection algorithm based on K-means clustering, useful and interesting results are found which can be used for identifying three inclined oil--water flow patterns. To investigate the dynamic characteristics of the inclined oil--water two-phase flow, we construct 48 FDCNs under different flow conditions, and find that the power-law exponent and the network information entropy, which are sensitive to the flow pattern transition, can both characterize the nonlinear dynamics of the inclined oil--water two-phase flow. In this paper, from a new perspective, we not only introduce a complex network theory into the study of the oil--water two-phase flow but also indicate that the complex network may be a powerful tool for exploring nonlinear time series in practice.     

Speed of complex network synchronization

Synchrony is one of the most common dynamical states emerging on networks. The speed of convergence towards synchrony provides a fundamental collective time scale for synchronizing systems. Here we study the asymptotic synchronization times for directed networks with topologies ranging from completely ordered, grid-like, to completely disordered, random, including intermediate, partially disordered topologies. We extend the approach of master stability functions to quantify synchronization times. We find that the synchronization times strongly and systematically depend on the network topology. In particular, at fixed in-degree, stronger topological randomness induces faster synchronization, whereas at fixed path length, synchronization is slowest for intermediate randomness in the small-world regime. Randomly rewiring real-world neural, social and transport networks confirms this picture.