A scenario has recently been reported in which in order to stabilize complete synchronization of an oscillator network---a symmetric state---the symmetry of the system itself has to be broken by making the oscillators nonidentical. But how often does such behavior---which we term asymmetry-induced synchronization (AISync)---occur in oscillator networks? Here we present the first general scheme for constructing AISync systems and demonstrate that this behavior is the norm rather than the exception in a wide class of physical systems that can be seen as multilayer networks. Since a symmetric network in complete synchrony is the basic building block of cluster synchronization in more general networks, AISync should be common also in facilitating cluster synchronization by breaking the symmetry of the cluster subnetworks.
We consider networks of delay-coupled Stuart-Landau oscillators. In these systems, the coupling phase has been found to be a crucial control parameter. By proper choice of this parameter one can switch between different synchronous oscillatory states of the network. Applying the speed-gradient method, we derive an adaptive algorithm for an automatic adjustment of the coupling phase such that a desired state can be selected from an otherwise multistable regime. We propose goal functions based on both the difference of the oscillators and a generalized order parameter and demonstrate that the speed-gradient method allows one to find appropriate coupling phases with which different states of synchronization, e.g., in-phase oscillation, splay or various cluster states, can be selected.
Population bursts in a large ensemble of coupled elements result from the interplay between the local excitable properties of the nodes and the global network topology. Here collective excitability and self-sustained bursting oscillations are shown to spontaneously emerge in adaptive networks of globally coupled non-excitable units. The ingredients to observe collective excitability are the coexistence of states with different degree of synchronizaton joined to a global feedback acting, on a slow timescale, against the synchronization (desynchronization) of the oscillators. These regimes are illustrated for two paradigmatic classes of coupled rotators: namely, the Kuramoto model with and without inertia. For the bimodal Kuramoto model we analytically show that the macroscopic evolution originates from the existence of a critical manifold organizing the fast collective dynamics on a slow timescale. Our results provide evidence that adaptation can induce excitability by maintaining a network permanently out-of-equilibrium.
In-phase synchronization is a special case of synchronous behavior when coupled oscillators have the same phases for any time moments. Such behavior appears naturally for nearly identical coupled limit-cycle oscillators when the coupling strength is greatly above the synchronization threshold. We investigate the general class of nearly identical complex oscillators connected into network in a context of a phase reduction approach. By treating each oscillator as a black-box possessing a single-input single-output, we provide a practical and simply realizable control algorithm to attain the in-phase synchrony of the network. For a general diffusive-type coupling law and any value of a coupling strength (even greatly below the synchronization threshold) the delayed feedback control with a specially adjusted time-delays can provide in-phase synchronization. Such adjustment of the delay times performed in an automatic fashion by the use of an adaptive version of the delayed feedback algorithm when time-delays become time-dependent slowly varying control parameters. Analytical results show that there are many arrangements of the time-delays for the in-phase synchronization, therefore we supplement the algorithm by an additional requirement to choose appropriate set of the time-delays, which minimize power of a control force. Performed numerical validations of the predictions highlights the usefulness of our approach.
We study the statistical physics of a surprising phenomenon arising in large networks of excitable elements in response to noise: while at low noise, solutions remain in the vicinity of the resting state and large-noise solutions show asynchronous activity, the network displays orderly, perfectly synchronized periodic responses at intermediate level of noise. We show that this phenomenon is fundamentally stochastic and collective in nature. Indeed, for noise and coupling within specific ranges, an asymmetry in the transition rates between a resting and an excited regime progressively builds up, leading to an increase in the fraction of excited neurons eventually triggering a chain reaction associated with a macroscopic synchronized excursion and a collective return to rest where this process starts afresh, thus yielding the observed periodic synchronized oscillations. We further uncover a novel anti-resonance phenomenon: noise-induced synchronized oscillations disappear when the system is driven by periodic stimulation with frequency within a specific range. In that anti-resonance regime, the system is optimal for measures of information capacity. This observation provides a new hypothesis accounting for the efficiency of Deep Brain Stimulation therapies in Parkinsons disease, a neurodegenerative disease characterized by an increased synchronization of brain motor circuits. We further discuss the universality of these phenomena in the class of stochastic networks of excitable elements with confining coupling, and illustrate this universality by analyzing various classical models of neuronal networks. Altogether, these results uncover some universal mechanisms supporting a regularizing impact of noise in excitable systems, reveal a novel anti-resonance phenomenon in these systems, and propose a new hypothesis for the efficiency of high-frequency stimulation in Parkinsons disease.
It is known that intra-layer adaptive coupling among connected oscillators instigates explosive synchronization (ES) in multilayer networks. Taking an altogether different cue in the present work, we consider inter-layer adaptive coupling in a multiplex network of phase oscillators and show that the scheme gives rise to ES with an associated hysteresis irrespective of the network architecture of individual layers. The hysteresis is shaped by the inter-layer coupling strength and the frequency mismatch between the mirror nodes. We provide rigorous mean-field analytical treatment for the measure of global coherence and manifest they are in a good match with respective numerical assessments. Moreover, the analytical predictions provide a complete insight into how adaptive multiplexing suppresses the formation of a giant cluster, eventually giving birth to ES. The study will help in spotlighting the role of multiplexing in the emergence of ES in real-world systems represented by multilayer architecture. Particularly, it is relevant to those systems which have limitations towards change in intra-layer coupling strength.