Phase synchronization and suppression of chaos through intermittency in forcing of an electrochemical oscillator

Quenching of oscillation by the limiting factor of diffusively coupled oscillators

A simple limiting factor in the intrinsic variable of the normal diffusive coupling is known to facilitate the phenomenon of reviving of oscillation [Zou et al., Nat. Commun. 6, 7709 (2015)2041-172310.1038/ncomms8709], where the limiting factor destabilizes the stable steady states, thereby resulting in the manifestation of the stable oscillatory states. In contrast, in this work we show that the same limiting factor can indeed facilitate the manifestation of the stable steady states by destabilizing the stable oscillatory state. In particular, the limiting factor in the intrinsic variable facilitates the genesis of a nontrivial amplitude death via a saddle-node infinite-period limit (SNIPER) bifurcation and symmetry-breaking oscillation death via a saddle-node bifurcation among the coupled identical oscillators. The limiting factor facilities the onset of symmetric oscillation death among the coupled nonidentical oscillators. It is known that the nontrivial amplitude death state manifests via a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation in general. Nevertheless, here we observe the transition to the nontrivial amplitude death via a SNIPER bifurcation. The in-phase oscillatory state loses its stability via the SNIPER bifurcation, resulting in the manifestation of the nontrivial amplitude death state, whereas the out-of-phase oscillatory state loses its stability via a homoclinic bifurcation, resulting in an unstable oscillatory state. Multistabilities among the various dynamical states are also observed. We have also deduced the evolution equation for the perturbation governing the stability of the observed dynamical states and stability conditions for SNIPER and pitchfork bifurcations. The generic nature of the effect of the limiting factor is also reinforced using two distinct nonlinear oscillators.

Phase and frequency linear response theory for hyperbolic chaotic oscillators

We formulate a linear phase and frequency response theory for hyperbolic flows, which generalizes phase response theory for autonomous limit cycle oscillators to hyperbolic chaotic dynamics. The theory is based on a shadowing conjecture, stating the existence of a perturbed trajectory shadowing every unperturbed trajectory on the system attractor for any small enough perturbation of arbitrary duration and a corresponding unique time isomorphism, which we identify as phase such that phase shifts between the unperturbed trajectory and its perturbed shadow are well defined. The phase sensitivity function is the solution of an adjoint linear equation and can be used to estimate the average change of phase velocity to small time dependent or independent perturbations. These changes in frequency are experimentally accessible, giving a convenient way to define and measure phase response curves for chaotic oscillators. The shadowing trajectory and the phase can be constructed explicitly in the tangent space of an unperturbed trajectory using co-variant Lyapunov vectors. It can also be used to identify the limits of the regime of linear response.

Unwinding the model manifold: Choosing similarity measures to remove local minima in sloppy dynamical systems

In this paper, we consider the problem of parameter sensitivity in models of complex dynamical systems through the lens of information geometry. We calculate the sensitivity of model behavior to variations in parameters. In most cases, models are sloppy, that is, exhibit an exponential hierarchy of parameter sensitivities. We propose a parameter classification scheme based on how the sensitivities scale at long observation times. We show that for oscillatory models, either with a limit cycle or a strange attractor, sensitivities can become arbitrarily large, which implies a high effective dimensionality on the model manifold. Sloppy models with a single fixed point have model manifolds with low effective dimensionality, previously described as a "hyper-ribbon." In contrast, models with high effective dimensionality translate into multimodal fitting problems. We define a measure of curvature on the model manifold which we call the winding frequency that estimates the density of local minima in the model's parameter space. We then show how alternative choices of fitting metrics can "unwind" the model manifold and give low winding frequencies. This prescription translates the model manifold from one of high effective dimensionality into the hyper-ribbon structures observed elsewhere. This translation opens the door for applications of sloppy model analysis and model reduction methods developed for models with low effective dimensionality.

Bifurcation diagram of coupled thermoacoustic chaotic oscillators

A thermoacoustic chaotic oscillator is a fluid system that presents thermally induced chaotic oscillations of a gas column. This study experimentally reports a bifurcation diagram when two thermoacoustic chaotic oscillators are dissipatively coupled to each other. The two-parameter bifurcation diagram is constructed by varying the frequency mismatch and the coupling strength. Complete chaos synchronization is observed in the region with a frequency mismatch of less than 1% of the uncoupled oscillator. In other regions, synchronization between quasiperiodic oscillations and that between limit-cycle oscillations and amplitude death are observed as well as asynchronous states.

Enhancement of photon intensity in forced coupled quantum wells inside a semiconductor microcavity

We study numerically the photon emission from a semiconductor microcavity containing N≥2 quantum wells under the influence of a periodic external forcing. The emission is determined by the interplay between external forcing and internal interaction between the wells. While the external forcing synchronizes the periodic motion, the internal interaction destroys it. The nonlinear term of the Hamiltonian supports the synchronization. The numerical results show a jump of the photon intensity to very large values at a certain critical value of the external forcing when the number of quantum wells is not too large. We discuss the dynamics of the system across this transition.

General coupled-nonlinear-oscillator model for event-related (de)synchronization

Changes in the level of synchronization and desynchronization in coupled oscillator systems due to an external stimulus are called event-related synchronization or desynchronization (ERS or ERD). Such changes occur in real-life systems where the collective activity of the entities of a coupled system is affected by some external influence. In order to understand the role played by the external influence in the occurrence of ERD and ERS, we study a system of coupled nonlinear oscillators in the presence of an external stimulus signal. We find that the phenomena of ERS and ERD are generic and occur in all types of coupled oscillator systems. We also find that the same external stimulus signal can cause ERS and ERD depending upon the strength of the signal. We identify the stability of the ERS and ERD states and also find analytical and numerical boundaries between the different synchronization regimes involved in the occurrence of ERD and ERS.

Stimulus-dependent suppression of chaos in recurrent neural networks

Neuronal activity arises from an interaction between ongoing firing generated spontaneously by neural circuits and responses driven by external stimuli. Using mean-field analysis, we ask how a neural network that intrinsically generates chaotic patterns of activity can remain sensitive to extrinsic input. We find that inputs not only drive network responses, but they also actively suppress ongoing activity, ultimately leading to a phase transition in which chaos is completely eliminated. The critical input intensity at the phase transition is a nonmonotonic function of stimulus frequency, revealing a "resonant" frequency at which the input is most effective at suppressing chaos even though the power spectrum of the spontaneous activity peaks at zero and falls exponentially. A prediction of our analysis is that the variance of neural responses should be most strongly suppressed at frequencies matching the range over which many sensory systems operate.

An automated algorithm for the generation of dynamically reconstructed trajectories

The lack of long enough data sets is a major problem in the study of many real world systems. As it has been recently shown [C. Komalapriya, M. Thiel, M. C. Romano, N. Marwan, U. Schwarz, and J. Kurths, Phys. Rev. E 78, 066217 (2008)], this problem can be overcome in the case of ergodic systems if an ensemble of short trajectories is available, from which dynamically reconstructed trajectories can be generated. However, this method has some disadvantages which hinder its applicability, such as the need for estimation of optimal parameters. Here, we propose a substantially improved algorithm that overcomes the problems encountered by the former one, allowing its automatic application. Furthermore, we show that the new algorithm not only reproduces the short term but also the long term dynamics of the system under study, in contrast to the former algorithm. To exemplify the potential of the new algorithm, we apply it to experimental data from electrochemical oscillators and also to analyze the well-known problem of transient chaotic trajectories.

Synchronized Current Oscillations of Formic Acid Electro-oxidation in a Microchip-based Dual-Electrode Flow Cell

We investigate the oscillatory electro-oxidation of formic acid on platinum in a microchip-based dual-electrode cell with microfluidic flow control. The main dynamical features of current oscillations on single Pt electrode that had been observed in macro-cells are reproduced in the microfabricated electrochemical cell. In dual-electrode configuration nearly in-phase synchronized current oscillations occur when the reference/counter electrodes are placed far away from the microelectrodes. The synchronization disappears with close reference/counter electrode placements. We show that the cause for synchronization is weak albeit important, bidirectional electrical coupling between the electrodes; therefore the unidirectional mass transfer interactions are negligible. The experimental design enables the investigation of the dynamical behavior in micro-electrode arrays with well-defined control of flow of the electrolyte in a manner where the size and spacing of the electrodes can be easily varied.

Frequency of negative differential resistance electrochemical oscillators: theory and experiments

An approximate formula for the frequency of oscillations is theoretically derived for skeleton models for electrochemical systems exhibiting negative differential resistance (NDR) under conditions close to supercritical Hopf bifurcation points. The theoretically predicted omega infinity (k/R)1/2 relationship (where R is the series resistance of the cell and k is the rate constant of the charge transfer process) was confirmed in experiments with copper and nickel electrodissolution. The experimentally observed Arrhenius-type dependence of frequency on temperature can also be explained with the frequency equation. The experimental validity of the frequency equation indicates that 'apparent' rate constants can be extracted from frequency measurements of electrochemical oscillations; such method can aid future modeling of complex responses of electrochemical cells.

Reconstruction of a system's dynamics from short trajectories

Long data sets are one of the prime requirements of time series analysis techniques to unravel the dynamics of an underlying system. However, acquiring long data sets is often not possible. In this paper, we address the question of whether it is still possible to understand the complete dynamics of a system if only short (but many) time series are observed. The key idea is to generate a single long time series from these short segments using the concept of recurrences in phase space. This long time series is constructed so as to exhibit a dynamics similar to that of a long time series obtained from the corresponding underlying system.

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.

Property change of unstable fixed point and phase synchronization in controlling spatiotemporal chaos by a periodic signal

Mechanisms for the suppression of spatiotemporal chaos (STC) in one-dimensional driven drift-wave system to a spatially regular state by a periodic signal are investigated. In the driving wave coordinate, by transforming the system to a set of coupled oscillators (modes) moving in a periodic potential, it is found that the modes can be enslaved one by one through phase synchronization (PS) by the control signal; for some modes frequency-locking occurs while the other modes display multilooping PS without frequency-locking. Further study of the linear behavior of the modes shows that the saddle point embedded in the STC is changed to an unstable focus, which makes it possible for the imperfect PS to change to a perfect functional one, leading to the suppression of the STC.

Experimental observation of synchronous competition in the Chua system

We present experimental results for two different sinusoidal functions competing to phase synchronize a Chua oscillator. Our approach involves real-time observation of the synchronization process. It shows that depending on the amplitude and frequency values of the two sinusoidal functions, the Chua oscillator can stay phase synchronized to one or the other of the inputs all the time or can alternate synchronous states between them. Numerical simulations show good agreement with the experimental observations.

Demand-controlled desynchronization of brain rhythms by means of nonlinear delayed feedback

We present a novel method for desynchronization of strongly synchronized population of interacting oscillators. It is based on nonlinear delayed feedback, works on demand with vanishing amount of stimulation, and is robust with respect to parameter variations. We suggest our method for mild and effective deep brain stimulation in neurological diseases characterized by pathological cerebral synchronization.

General framework for phase synchronization through localized sets

We present an approach which enables one to identify phase synchronization in coupled chaotic oscillators without having to explicitly measure the phase. We show that if one defines a typical event in one oscillator and then observes another one whenever this event occurs, these observations give rise to a localized set. Our result provides a general and easy way to identify PS, which can also be used to oscillators that possess multiple time scales. We illustrate our approach in networks of chemically coupled neurons. We show that clusters of phase synchronous neurons may emerge before the onset of phase synchronization in the whole network, producing a suitable environment for information exchanging. Furthermore, we show the relation between the localized sets and the amount of information that coupled chaotic oscillator can exchange.

Synchronization phenomena for a pair of locally coupled chaotic electrochemical oscillators: a survey

Chaotic synchronization of two locally coupled electrochemical oscillators is studied numerically. Both bidirectional and unidirectional couplings are considered. For both these coupling scenarios, varying the characteristics of the coupling terms (functional form and/or strength) reveals a wide variety of synchronization phenomena. Standard diagnostic tests are performed to verify and classify the different types of synchronizations observed.

Detecting and characterizing phase synchronization in nonstationary dynamical systems

We propose a general framework for detecting and characterizing phase synchronization from noisy, nonstationary time series. For detection, we propose to use the average phase-synchronization time and show that it is extremely sensitive to parameter changes near the onset of phase synchronization. To characterize the degree of temporal phase synchronization, we suggest to monitor the evolution of phase diffusion from a moving time window and argue that this measure is practically useful as it can be enhanced by increasing the size of the window. While desynchronization events can be caused by either a lack of sufficient deterministic coupling or noise, we demonstrate that the time scales associated with the two mechanisms are quite different. In particular, noise-induced desynchronization events tend to occur on much shorter time scales. This allows for the effect of noise on phase synchronization to be corrected in a practically doable manner. We perform a control study to substantiate these findings by constructing and investigating a prototype model of nonstationary dynamical system that consists of coupled chaotic oscillators with time-varying coupling parameter.

Electrochemical bursting oscillations on a high-dimensional slow subsystem

Experiments are carried out with a chemical burster, the electrodissolution of iron in sulfuric acid solution. The system exhibits bursting oscillations in which fast periodic spiking is superimposed on chaotic, slow oscillations. Regularization of the slow dynamics, i.e., transition from chaotic to periodic bursting oscillations, is investigated through changes in the experimental parameters (circuit potential, external resistance, and electrode diameter). These transitions are accompanied by changes in the fast dynamics; a 'Hopf-Hopf' spiking is transformed to 'homoclinic-Hopf' spiking. The periodic bursting is destroyed through a period lengthening process in which the fast spiking region extends to a large fraction of the slow oscillatory cycle until there is no clear distinction between the fast and slow oscillations. Finally, it is shown that the time-scales of the fast spiking and, to a lesser extent, of the slow oscillations (or the occurrence of fast spiking) can be controlled with periodic perturbation of an experimental parameter, the circuit potential.

On the intrinsic time scales involved in synchronization: a data-driven approach

We address the problem of detecting, from scalar observations, the time scales involved in synchronization of complex oscillators with several spectral components. Using a recent data-driven procedure for analyzing nonlinear and nonstationary signals [Huang, Proc. R. Soc. London A 454, 903 (1998)], we decompose a time series in distinct oscillation modes which may display a time varying spectrum. When applied to coupled oscillators with multiple time scales, we found that motions are captured in a finite number of phase-locked oscillations. Further, in the synchronized state distinct phenomena as phase slips, anti-phase or perfect phase locking can be simultaneously observed at specific time scales. This fully data-driven approach (without a priori choice of filters or basis functions) is tested on numerical examples and illustrated on electric intracranial signals recorded from an epileptic patient. Implications for the study of the build-up of synchronized states in nonstationary and noisy systems are pointed out.

Effective desynchronization by nonlinear delayed feedback

We show that nonlinear delayed feedback opens up novel means for the control of synchronization. In particular, we propose a demand-controlled method for powerful desynchronization, which does not require any time-consuming calibration. Our technique distinguishes itself by its robustness against variations of system parameters, even in strongly coupled ensembles of oscillators. We suggest our method for mild and effective deep brain stimulation in neurological diseases characterized by pathological cerebral synchronization.

Complete phase and amplitude synchronization of broadband chaotic optical fields generated by semiconductor lasers subject to optical injection

A direct experimental observation of phase synchronization, amplitude synchronization, and frequency locking for the high-frequency broadband chaotic optical fields of the transmitter and the receiver is demonstrated in a fully optical system, where its chaotic optical wave form is generated through the high-speed nonlinearity of semiconductor lasers subject to optical injection. This experimentally achieved chaotic synchronous scenario is verified as identical chaos synchronization by observing several key characteristics of chaos synchronization in this system. The observation at the frequency detuning, the phase sensitivity, and the effect of mismatch at the injection strength from the master laser and match at the laser output power is in good agreement with the theoretical analysis of this system.

A subharmonic dynamical bifurcation during in vitro epileptiform activity

Epileptic seizures are considered to result from a sudden change in the synchronization of firing neurons in brain neural networks. We have used an in vitro model of status epilepticus (SE) to characterize dynamical regimes underlying the observed seizure-like activity. Time intervals between spikes or bursts were used as the variable to construct first-return interpeak or interburst interval plots, for studying neuronal population activity during the transition to seizure, as well as within seizures. Return maps constructed for a brief epoch before seizures were used for approximating the local system dynamics during that time window. Analysis of the first-return maps suggests that intermittency is a dynamical regime underlying the observed epileptic activity. This type of analysis may be useful for understanding the collective dynamics of neuronal populations in the normal and pathological brain.

Three types of transitions to phase synchronization in coupled chaotic oscillators

We study the effect of noncoherence on the onset of phase synchronization of two coupled chaotic oscillators. Depending on the coherence properties of oscillations characterized by the phase diffusion, three types of transitions to phase synchronization are found. For phase-coherent attractors this transition occurs shortly after one of the zero Lyapunov exponents becomes negative. At rather strong phase diffusion, phase locking manifests a strong degree of generalized synchronization, and occurs only after one positive Lyapunov exponent becomes negative. For intermediate phase diffusion, phase synchronization sets in via an interior crises of the hyperchaotic set.

Oscillatory and rotatory synchronization of chaotic autonomous phase systems

The existence of rotatory, oscillatory, and oscillatory-rotatory synchronization of two coupled chaotic phase systems is demonstrated in the paper. We find four types of transition to phase synchronization depending on coherence properties of motions, characterized by phase variable diffusion. When diffusion is small the onset of phase synchronization is accompanied by a change in the Lyapunov spectrum; one of the zero Lyapunov exponents becomes negative shortly before this onset. If the diffusion of the phase variable is strong then phase synchronization and generalized synchronization, occur simultaneously, i.e., one of the positive Lyapunov exponents becomes negative, or generalized synchronization even sets in before phase synchronization. For intermediate diffusion the phase synchronization appears via interior crisis of the hyperchaotic set. Soft and hard transitions to phase synchronization are discussed.

Constructive effects of noise in homoclinic chaotic systems

Many chaotic oscillators have coherent phase dynamics but strong fluctuations in the amplitudes. At variance with such a behavior, homoclinic chaos is characterized by quite regular spikes but strong fluctuation in their time intervals due to the chaotic recurrence to a saddle point. We study influences of noise on homoclinic chaos. We demonstrate both numerically and experimentally on a CO2 laser various constructive effects of noise, including coherence resonance, noise-induced synchronization in uncoupled systems and noise-enhanced phase synchronization, deterministic resonance with respect to signal frequency, and stochastic resonance versus noise intensity in response to weak signals. The peculiar sensitivity of the system along the weak unstable manifold of the saddle point underlines the unified mechanism of these nontrivial and constructive noise-induced phenomena.

Stochastic phase resetting of two coupled phase oscillators stimulated at different times

A model of two coupled phase oscillators is presented, where the oscillators are subject to random forces and are stimulated at different times. Transient phase dynamics, synchronization, and desynchronization, which are stimulus locked (i.e., tightly time locked to a repetitively administered stimulus), are investigated. Complex coordinated responses, in terms of a noise-induced switching across trials between qualitatively different responses, may occur when the two oscillators are reset close to an unstable fixed point of their relative phases. This can be achieved with an appropriately chosen delay between the two stimuli. The switching of the responses shows up as a coordinated cross-trial (CT) response clustering of the oscillators, where the two oscillators produce two different pairs of responses. By varying noise amplitude and coupling strength we observe a stochastic resonance and a coupling-mediated resonance of the CT response clustering, respectively. The presented data analysis method makes it possible to detect such processes in numerical and experimental signals. Its time resolution is enormous, since it is only restricted by the time resolution of the preprocessing necessary for extracting the phases from experimental data. In contrast, standard data analysis tools applied across trials relative to stimulus onset, such as CT averaging (where an ensemble of poststimulus responses is simply averaged), CT standard deviation, and CT cross correlation, fail in detecting complex coordinated responses and lead to severe misinterpretations and artifacts. The consequences for the analysis of evoked responses in medicine and neuroscience are significant and are discussed in detail.

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 Rössler oscillators are verified experimentally with an array of chaotic electrochemical oscillators.

The control of seizure-like activity in the rat hippocampal slice

The sudden and transient hypersynchrony of neuronal firing that characterizes epileptic seizures can be considered as the transitory stabilization of metastable states present within the dynamical repertoire of a neuronal network. Using an in vitro model of recurrent spontaneous seizures in the rat horizontal hippocampal slice preparation, we present an approach to characterize the dynamics of the transition to seizure, and to use this information to control the activity and avoid the occurrence of seizure-like events. The transition from the interictal activity (between seizures) to the seizure-like event is aborted by brief (20-50 s) low-frequency (0.5 Hz) periodic forcing perturbations, applied via an extracellular stimulating electrode to the mossy fibers, the axons of the dentate neurons that synapse onto the CA3 pyramidal cells. This perturbation results in the stabilization of an interictal-like low-frequency firing pattern in the hippocampal slice. The results derived from this work shed light on the dynamics of the transition to seizure and will further the development of algorithms that can be used in automated devices to stop seizure occurrence.

Locking-based frequency measurement and synchronization of chaotic oscillators with complex dynamics

We propose a method for the determination of a characteristic oscillation frequency for a broad class of chaotic oscillators generating complex signals. It is based on the locking of standard periodic self-sustained oscillators by an irregular signal. The method is applied to experimental data from chaotic electrochemical oscillators, where other approaches of frequency determination (e.g., based on Hilbert transform) fail. Using the method we characterize the effects of phase synchronization for systems with ill-defined phase by external forcing and due to mutual coupling.

Phase synchronization in bidirectionally coupled optothermal devices

We present the experimental observation of phase synchronization transitions in the bidirectional coupling of chaotic and nonchaotic oscillators. A variety of transitions are characterized and compared to numerical simulations of a time delayed model. The characteristic 2pi phase jumps usually appear during the transitions, specially in those clearly associated with a saddle-node bifurcation. The study is done with pairs of optothermal oscillators linearly coupled by heat transfer.

Noise-enhanced phase synchronization of chaotic oscillators

The effects of noise on phase synchronization (PS) of coupled chaotic oscillators are explored. In contrast to coupled periodic oscillators, noise is found to enhance phase synchronization significantly below the threshold of PS. This constructive role of noise has been verified experimentally with chaotic electrochemical oscillators of the electrodissolution of Ni in sulfuric acid solution.

Collective dynamics of chaotic chemical oscillators and the law of large numbers

Experiments on the nontrivial collective dynamics and phase synchronization of populations of nonidentical chaotic electrochemical oscillators are presented. Without added coupling no deviation from the law of large numbers is observed. Deviations do arise with weak global or short-range coupling; large, irregular, and periodic mean field oscillations occur along with (partial) phase synchronization.