Clusters and switchers in globally coupled photochemical oscillators

We experimentally investigate the transition to synchronization in a population of photochemical oscillators with weak global coupling. Above a critical coupling strength the oscillators join a one-phase group or two-phase clusters. The number of oscillators in each cluster depends on the initial phase distribution, and irregular switching of oscillators between clusters is observed. The fully synchronized state emerges above a second critical coupling strength. In agreement with earlier theory, the experiments demonstrate the importance of population heterogeneity in cluster multistability.     

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 in networks of limit cycle oscillators

We investigate the synchronization behaviour of three different networks of nonlinearly coupled oscillators. Each network consists of several clusters of oscillators, and the clusters themselves consist of any number of oscillators. In each cluster the eigenfrequencies scatter around the cluster frequency (mean frequency). The coupling strength varies in each cluster, too. We analyze the synchronized states by means of the center manifold theorem. This enables us to calculate these states explicitly, and to prove their stability. Moreover we are able to determine frequency shifts caused by different coupling mechanisms. In a number of cases we calculate the synchronisation threshold explicitely. Numerical simulations illustrate our analytical results. In one of the three networks we have additionally analyzed a single cluster consisting of infinitely many oscillators, that is an oscillatory field. Again, the center manifold theorem enabled us to calculate the synchronized state explicitly and to prove its stability. Our results concerning the oscillatory field are in contradiction to Ermentrout's analysis [6].     

Phase-locking and critical phenomena in lattices of coupled nonlinear oscillators with random intrinsic frequencies

We study phase-locking in a network of coupled nonlinear oscillators with local interactions and random intrinsic frequencies. The oscillators are located at the vertices of a graph and interact along the edges. They are coupled by sinusoidal functions of the phase differences across the edges, and their intrinsic frequencies are independent and identically distributed with finite mean and variance.We derive an exact expression for the probability of phase-locking in a linear chain of such oscillators and prove that this probability tends to zero as the number of oscillators grows without bound. However, if the coupling strength increases as the square root of the number of oscillators, the probability of phase-locking tends to a limiting distribution, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov distribution. This latter result is obtained by showing that the phase-locking problem is equivalent to a discretization of pinned Brownian motion.The results on chains of oscillators are extended to more general graphs. In particular, for a hypercubic lattice of any dimension, the probability of phase-locking tends to zero exponentially fast as the number of oscillators grows without bound. We also consider a less stringent type of synchronization, characterized by large clusters of oscillators mutually entrained at the same average frequency. It is shown that if such clusters exist, they necessarily have a sponge-like geometry.     

Frequency clustering of coupled phase oscillators on small-world networks

We analyze the phenomenon of frequency clustering in a system of coupled phase oscillators. The oscillators, which in the absence of coupling have uniformly distributed natural frequencies, are coupled through a small-world network, built according to the Watts-Strogatz model. We study the time evolution and determine variations in the transient times depending on the disorder of the network and on the coupling strength. We investigate the effects of fluctuations in the average frequencies, and discuss the definition of the threshold for synchronization. We characterize the structure of clusters and the distribution of cluster sizes in the synchronization transition, and define suitable order parameters to describe the aggregation of the oscillators as the network disorder and the coupling strength change. The non-monotonic behavior observed in some order parameters is related to fluctuations in the mean frequencies.     

Synchronization of phase oscillators with heterogeneous coupling: A solvable case

We consider an extension of Kuramoto’s model of coupled phase oscillators where oscillator pairs interact with different strengths. When the coupling coefficient of each pair can be separated into two different factors, each one associated to an oscillator, Kuramoto’s theory for the transition to synchronization can be explicitly generalized, and the effects of coupling heterogeneity on synchronized states can be analytically studied. The two factors are respectively interpreted as the weight of the contribution of each oscillator to the mean field, and the coupling of each oscillator to that field. We explicitly analyze the effects of correlations between those weights and couplings, and show that synchronization can be completely inhibited when they are strongly anti-correlated. Numerical results validate the theory, but suggest that finite-size effect are relevant to the collective dynamics close to the synchronization transition, where oscillators become entrained in synchronized frequency clusters.     

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.     

Populations of coupled electrochemical oscillators

Experiments were carried out on arrays of chaotic electrochemical oscillators to which global coupling, periodic forcing, and feedback were applied. The global coupling converts a very weakly coupled set of chaotic oscillators to a synchronized state with sufficiently large values of coupling strength; at intermediate values both intermittent and stable chaotic cluster states occur. Cluster formation and synchronization were also obtained by applying feedback and forcing to a moderately coupled base state. The three cases differ, however, in other details. The feedback and forcing also produce periodic cluster states and more than two clusters. Configurations of two (chaotic) clusters and two, three, or four (periodic) clusters were observed. (c) 2002 American Institute of Physics.     

Emergence and evolution of multiple clusters of attracting agents

We investigate a multi-agent system with a behavior akin to the cluster formation in systems of coupled oscillators. The saturating attractive interactions between an infinite number of non-identical agents, characterized by a multimodal distribution of their natural velocities, lead to the emergence of clusters. We derive expressions that characterize the clusters, and calculate the asymptotic velocities of the agents and the critical value for the coupling strength under which no clustering can occur. The results are supported by mathematical analysis.For the particular case of a symmetric and unimodal distribution of the natural velocities, the relationship with the Kuramoto model of coupled oscillators is highlighted. While in the generic case the emergence of a cluster corresponds to a second-order phase transition, for a specific choice of the natural velocity distribution a first-order phase transition may occur, a phenomenon recently observed in the Kuramoto model. We also present an example for which the clustering behavior is quantitatively described in terms of the coupling strength.As an illustration of the potential of the model, we discuss how it applies to the dynamic process of opinion formation.     

Intermolecular Vibrational Coupling A Model Calculation for the Out-of-Plane Vibration of CO3 −- in Compounds with the Aragonite Structure

Abstract

¹³CO₃ ^?- substituted compounds with the aragonite structure show a fine structure of the out-of-plane vibration in the infrared spectra. A simple quantum mechanical model of coupled oscillators is developed to describe quantitatively the observed spectra. The spectra can be interpreted in terms of isolated ^12CO ₃ ^?- and ¹³CO₃ ^?- clusters, whose eigenfunctions interact. The heavy ions have localized vibrations, whereas clusters of the light ion with more than one ion show only localized vibrations at small coupling; stronger coupling results in resonant modes. Intensitytransfer from light to heavy ion bands is explained and the consequences of interaction between different clusters are discussed.     

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.     

Synchrony-optimized networks of non-identical Kuramoto oscillators

In this Letter we discuss a method for generating synchrony-optimized coupling architectures of Kuramoto oscillators with a heterogeneous distribution of native frequencies. The method allows us to relate the properties of the coupling network to its synchronizability. These relations were previously only established from a linear stability analysis of the identical oscillator case. We further demonstrate that the heterogeneity in the oscillator population produces heterogeneity in the optimal coupling network as well. Two rules for enhancing the synchronizability of a given network by a suitable placement of oscillators are given: (i) native frequencies of adjacent oscillators must be anti-correlated and (ii) frequency magnitudes should positively correlate with the degree of the node they are placed at.     

Chaotic cluster itinerancy and hierarchical cluster trees in electrochemical experiments

Experiments on an array of 64 globally coupled chaotic electrochemical oscillators were carried out. The array is heterogeneous due to small variations in the properties of the electrodes and there is also a small amount of noise. Over some ranges of the coupling parameter, dynamical clustering was observed. The precision-dependent cluster configuration is analyzed using hierarchical cluster trees. The cluster configurations varied with time: spontaneous changes of number of clusters and their configurations were detected. Simple transitions occurred with the switch of a single element or groups of elements. During more complicated transitions subclusters were exchanged among clusters but original cluster configurations were revisited. At weaker coupling the system itinerated among lower-dimensional quasistationary chaotic two-cluster states and higher-dimensional states with many clusters. In this region the transitions showed characteristics of on-off intermittency.     

Local synchronization in complex networks of coupled oscillators

We investigate the effects that network topology, natural frequency distribution, and system size have on the path to global synchronization as the overall coupling strength between oscillators is increased in a Kuramoto network. In particular, we study the scenario recently found by Go?mez-Garden?es et al. [Phys. Rev. E 73, 056124 (2006)] in which macroscopic global synchronization emerges through a process whereby many small synchronized clusters form, grow, and merge, eventually leading to a macroscopic giant synchronized component. Our main result is that this scenario is robust to an increase in the number of oscillators or a change in the distribution function of the oscillators' natural frequencies, but becomes less prominent as the number of links per oscillator increases.     

Mechanism of desynchronization in the finite-dimensional Kuramoto model

We study how a decrease of the coupling strength causes a desynchronization in the Kuramoto model of N globally coupled phase oscillators. We show that, if the natural frequencies are distributed uniformly or close to that, the synchronized state can robustly split into any number of phase clusters with different average frequencies, even culminating in complete desynchronization. In the simplest case of N=3 phase oscillators, the course of the splitting is controlled by a Cherry flow. The general N-dimensional desynchronization mechanism is numerically illustrated for N=5.     

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.     

Extreme sensitivity to detuning for globally coupled phase oscillators

We discuss the sensitivity of a population of coupled oscillators to differences in their natural frequencies, i.e., to detuning. We argue that for three or more oscillators, one can get great sensitivity even if the coupling is strong. For N globally coupled phase oscillators we find there can be bifurcation to extreme sensitivity, where frequency locking can be destroyed by arbitrarily small detuning. This extreme sensitivity is absent for N = 2, appears at isolated parameter values for N = 3 and N = 4, and can appear robustly for open sets of parameter values for N > or = 5 oscillators.     

Synchronization of oscillators coupled through an environment

We study synchronization of oscillators that are indirectly coupled through their interaction with an environment. We give criteria for the stability or instability of a synchronized oscillation. Using these criteria we investigate synchronization of systems of oscillators which are weakly coupled, in the sense that the influence of the oscillators on the environment is weak. We prove that arbitrarily weak coupling will synchronize the oscillators, provided that this coupling is of the ‘right’ sign. We illustrate our general results by applications to a model of coupled GnRH neuron oscillators proposed by Khadra and Li [A. Khadra, Y.X. Li, A model for the pulsatile secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone from synchronized hypothalamic neurons, Biophys. J. 91 (2006) 74-83.], and to indirectly weakly-coupled λ-ω oscillators.     

Engineering generalized synchronization in chaotic oscillators

We report a method of engineering generalized synchronization (GS) in chaotic oscillators using an open-plus-closed-loop coupling strategy. The coupling is defined in terms of a transformation matrix that maps a chaotic driver onto a response oscillator where the elements of the matrix can be arbitrarily chosen, and thereby allows a precise control of the GS state. We elaborate the scheme with several examples of transformation matrices. The elements of the transformation matrix are chosen as constants, time varying function, state variables of the driver, and state variables of another chaotic oscillator. Numerical results of GS in mismatched Ro?ssler oscillators as well as nonidentical oscillators such as Ro?ssler and Chen oscillators are presented.