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.     

Detecting synchronization in coupled stochastic ecosystem networks

Instantaneous phase difference, synchronization index and mutual information are considered in order to detect phase transitions, collective behaviours and synchronization phenomena that emerge for different levels of diffusive and reactive activity in stochastic networks. The network under investigation is a spatial 2D lattice which serves as a substrate for Lotka-Volterra dynamics with 3rd order nonlinearities. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the system spontaneously organizes into a number of asynchronous local oscillators, when only nearest neighbour interactions are considered. In contrast, the oscillators can be correlated, phase synchronized and completely synchronized when introducing different interactivity rules (diffusive or reactive) for nearby and distant species. The quantitative measures of synchronization show that long distance diffusion coupling induces phase synchronization after a well defined transition point, while long distance reaction coupling induces smeared phase synchronization.     

An Approach to Analyse Phase Synchronization in Oscillator Networks with Weak Coupling

We study phase synchronization in oscillator networks through phase reduced method. The dynamics of networks is reduced to phase equations by this method. Analysing the phase equations through the master stability function method, one obtains that the oscillators with identical frequency can be in-phase synchronized by weak balanced coupling. Similarly, the problem of frequency synchronization of oscillators with different frequencies is transformed to the existence of a locally asymptotically stable equilibrium of the phase error system.     

Switching phenomenon induced by breakdown of chaotic phase synchronization

We investigate chaotic phase synchronization (CPS) in three-coupled chaotic oscillator systems. According to the coupling strength and mismatches in the frequencies of these oscillators, we can observe complete CPS where all three oscillators exhibit CPS, and partial CPS where only two oscillators exhibit CPS. When the coupling strength is weakened, we observe a phenomenon that complete CPS among the three oscillators is suddenly disrupted without going through partial CPS. In this case oscillators exhibit quasi-CPS where two oscillators appear to exhibit CPS transiently, and the combination of the two oscillators changes with time. We call this phenomenon CPS switching D. It is revealed that phase fluctuation plays an important role in CPS switching D. It is also shown that the amplitude with a specific structure strengthens the degree of CPS switching. In the present paper, we characterize this CPS switching and discuss its mechanism.     

Detecting phase synchronization between coupled non-phase-coherent oscillators

We compare two methods for detecting phase synchronization in coupled non-phase-coherent oscillators. One method is based on the locking of self-sustained oscillators with an irregular signal. The other uses trajectory recurrences in phase space. We identify the pros and cons of both methods and propose guidelines to detect phase synchronization in data series.     

Semi-passivity and synchronization of diffusively coupled neuronal oscillators

We discuss synchronization in networks of neuronal oscillators which are interconnected via diffusive coupling, i.e. linearly coupled via gap junctions. In particular, we present sufficient conditions for synchronization in these networks using the theory of semi-passive and passive systems. We show that the conductance based neuronal models of Hodgkin-Huxley, Morris-Lecar, and the popular reduced models of FitzHugh-Nagumo and Hindmarsh-Rose all satisfy a semi-passivity property, i.e. that is the state trajectories of such a model remain oscillatory but bounded provided that the supplied (electrical) energy is bounded. As a result, for a wide range of coupling configurations, networks of these oscillators are guaranteed to possess ultimately bounded solutions. Moreover, we demonstrate that when the coupling is strong enough the oscillators become synchronized. Our theoretical conclusions are confirmed by computer simulations with coupled Hindmarsh-Rose and Morris-Lecar oscillators. Finally we discuss possible “instabilities” in networks of oscillators induced by the diffusive coupling.     

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 Kuramoto oscillators in random complex networks

We study the synchronization of coupled phase oscillators in random complex networks. The topology of the networks is assumed to be vary over time. Here we mainly study the onset of global phase synchronization when the topology switches rapidly over time. We find that the results are, to some extent, different from those in deterministic situations. In particular, the synchronizability of coupled oscillators can be enhanced in ER networks and scale-free networks under fast switching, while in stochastic small-world networks such enhancement is not significant.     

Synchronization and control of chaos in coupled chaotic multimode Nd:YAG lasers

In this Letter we numerically investigate the dynamics of a system of two coupled chaotic multimode Nd:YAG lasers with two mode and three mode outputs. Unidirectional and bidirectional coupling schemes are adopted; intensity time series plots, phase space plots and synchronization plots are used for studying the dynamics. Quality of synchronization is measured using correlation index plots. It is found that for laser with two mode output bidirectional direct coupling scheme is found to be effective in achieving complete synchronization, control of chaos and amplification in output intensity. For laser with three mode output, bidirectional difference coupling scheme gives much better chaotic synchronization as compared to unidirectional difference coupling but at the cost of higher coupling strength. We also conclude that the coupling scheme and system properties play an important role in determining the type of synchronization exhibited by the system.     

Synchronization in complex delayed dynamical networks with nonsymmetric coupling

A new general complex delayed dynamical network model with nonsymmetric coupling is introduced, and then we investigate its synchronization phenomena. Several synchronization criteria for delay-independent and delay-dependent synchronization are provided which generalize some previous results. The matrix Jordan canonical formalization method is used instead of the matrix diagonalization method, so in our synchronization criteria, the coupling configuration matrix of the network does not required to be diagonalizable and may have complex eigenvalues. Especially, we show clearly that the synchronizability of a delayed dynamical network is not always characterized by the second-largest eigenvalue even though all the eigenvalues of the coupling configuration matrix are real. Furthermore, the effects of time-delay on synchronizability of networks with unidirectional coupling are studied under some typical network structures. The results are illustrated by delayed networks in which each node is a two-dimensional limit cycle oscillator system consisting of a two-cell cellular neural network, numerical simulations show that these networks can realize synchronization with smaller time-delay, and will lose synchronization when the time-delay increase larger than a threshold.     

Conditions for common-noise-induced synchronization in time-delay systems

We studied synchronization induced by a common external noise in scalar time-delay systems. We have found a set of sufficient conditions for the synchronization. This set of conditions shows that the synchronization occurs in a wide class of time-delay systems. Numerical evidence for the analytically obtained conditions is also presented.     

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.     

Synchronization in a class of weighted complex networks with coupling delays

It is commonly accepted that realistic networks can display not only a complex topological structure, but also a heterogeneous distribution of connection weights. In addition, time delay is inevitable because the information spreading through a complex network is characterized by the finite speeds of signal transmission over a distance. Weighted complex networks with coupling delays have been gaining increasing attention in various fields of science and engineering. Some of the topics of most concern in the field of weighted complex networks are finding how the synchronizability depends on various parameters of the network including the coupling strength, weight distribution and delay. On the basis of the theory of asymptotic stability of linear time-delay systems with complex coefficients, the synchronization stability of weighted complex dynamical networks with coupling delays is investigated, and simple criteria are obtained for both delay-independent and delay-dependent stabilities of the synchronization state. Finally, an example is given as an illustration testing the theoretical results.     

Different Types of Synchronization in Time-Delayed Systems

We investigate different types of synchronization between two unidirectionally nonlinearly coupled identical delay- differential systems related to optical bistable or hybrid optical bistable devices. This system can represent some kinds of delay-differential models, i.e. Ikeda model, Vall~e model, sine-square model, Mackey Glass model, and so on. We find existence and sufficient stability conditions by theoretical analysis and test the correctness by＂ numerical simulations. Lag, complete and anticipating synchronization are observed, respectively. It is found that the time-delay system can be divided into two parts~ one is the instant term and the other is the delay term. Synchronization between two identical chaotic systems can be derived by adding a coupled term to the delay term in the driven system.     

Synchronization in Coupled Oscillators with Two Coexisting Attractors

Dynamics in coupled Dufling oscillators with two coexisting symmetrical attractors is investigated. For a pair of Dufl~ng oscillators coupled linearly, the transition to the synchronization generally consists of two steps： Firstly, the two oscillators have to jump onto a same attractor, then they reach synchronization similarly to coupled monostable oscillators. The transition scenarios to the synchronization observed are strongly dependent on initial conditions.     

Construction principles for highly synchronizable sparse directed networks

In this Letter sparse directed interaction networks of heterogeneous Kuramoto oscillators that give rise to enhanced synchronization properties are generated and analyzed. The particular networks, which allow for the transition to full synchronization for the smallest coupling strength, i.e., optimal networks, are found to be very homogeneous in the in-degree distribution, but exhibit very skewed out-degree distributions. Various correlations between in- and out-degree structure, oscillator heterogeneity and component structure, which are linked to an enhanced synchronizability, are discussed.     

Adaptive global synchronization of a general complex dynamical network with non-delayed and delayed coupling

This Letter investigates the global synchronization of a general complex dynamical network with non-delayed and delayed coupling. Based on Lasalle's invariance principle, adaptive global synchronization criteria is obtained. Analytical result shows that under the designed adaptive controllers, a general complex dynamical network with non-delayed and delayed coupling can globally asymptotically synchronize to a given trajectory. What is more, the node dynamic need not satisfy the very strong and conservative uniformly Lipschitz condition and the coupling matrix is not assumed to be symmetric or irreducible. Finally, numerical simulations are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed synchronization criteria.     

Global synchronization in arrays of coupled networks with one single time-varying delay coupling

Global synchronization in arrays of coupled networks with one single time-varying delay coupling is investigated in this Letter. A general linear coupled network with a time-varying coupling delay is proposed and its global synchronization is further discussed. Some sufficient criteria are derived based on Lyapunov functional and linear matrix inequality (LMI). It is shown that under one single delay coupling, the synchronized state changes, which is different from the conventional synchronized solution. Moreover, the degree of the nodes and the inner delayed coupling matrix play key roles in the synchronized state. In particular, the derivative of the time-varying delay can be any given value. Finally, numerical simulations are given to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Isochronal synchronization in networks and chaos-based TDMA communication

Pairs of delay-coupled chaotic systems were shown to be able to achieve isochronal synchronization under bidirectional coupling and self-feedback. Such identical-in-time behavior was demonstrated to be stable under a set of conditions and to support simultaneous bidirectional communication between pairs of chaotic oscillators coupled with time-delay. More recently, it was shown that isochronal synchronization can emerge in networks with several hundreds of oscillators, which allows its exploitation for communication in distributed systems. In this paper, we introduce a conceptual framework for the application of isochronal synchronization to TDMA communication in networks of delay-coupled chaotic oscillators. On the basis of the stable and identical-in-time behavior of delay-coupled chaotic systems, the chaotic dynamics of distributed oscillators is used to support and sustain coordinate communication among nodes over the network. On the basis of the unique features of chaotic systems in isochronal synchronization, the chaotic signals are used to timestamp clock readings at the physical layer such that logical clock synchronization among the nodes (a prerequisite for TDMA) can be exploited using the same basic structure. The result is a standalone network communication scheme that can be advantageously applied in the context of ad-hoc networks or alike, especially short-ranged ones that yield low values of time-delay. As explored to its depths in practical implementations, this conceptual framework is argued to have potential to provide gain in simplicity, security and efficiency in communication schemes for autonomous/standalone network applications.     

Synchronization of Coupled Oscillators on Newman-Watts Small-World Networks

We investigate the collection behaviour of coupled phase oscillators on Newman-Watts small-world networks in one and two dimensions. Each component of the network is assumed as an oscillator and each interacts with the others following the Kuramoto model We then study the onset of global synchronization of phases and frequencies based on dynamic simulations and finite-size scaling. Both the phase and frequency synchronization are observed to emerge in the presence of a tiny fraction of shortcuts and enhanced with the increases of nearest neighbours and lattice dimensions.