Experimental characterization of the transition to phase synchronization of chaotic CO2 laser systems

Intermittent generalized synchronization and modified system approach: Discrete maps

The present work deals with the intermittent generalized synchronization regime observed near the boundary of generalized synchronization. The intermittent behavior is considered in the context of two observable phenomena, namely, (i) the birth of the asynchronous stages of motion from the complete synchronous state and (ii) the multistability in detection of the synchronous and asynchronous states. The mechanisms governing these phenomena are revealed and described in this paper with the help of the modified system approach for unidirectionally coupled model oscillators with discrete time.

Collective dynamics of coupled Lorenz oscillators near the Hopf boundary: Intermittency and chimera states

We study collective dynamics of networks of mutually coupled identical Lorenz oscillators near a subcritical Hopf bifurcation. Such systems exhibit induced multistable behavior with interesting spatiotemporal dynamics including synchronization, desynchronization, and chimera states. For analysis, we first consider a ring topology with nearest-neighbor coupling and find that the system may exhibit intermittent behavior due to the complex basin structures and dynamical frustration, where temporal dynamics of the oscillators in the ensemble switches between different attractors. Consequently, different oscillators may show a dynamics that is intermittently synchronized (or desynchronized), giving rise to intermittent chimera states. The behavior of the intermittent laminar phases is characterized by the characteristic time spent in the synchronization manifold, which decays as a power law. Such intermittent dynamics is quite general and is also observed in an ensemble of a large number of oscillators arranged in variety of network topologies including nonlocal, scale-free, random, and small-world networks.

Amplitude and frequency modulation of subthalamic beta oscillations jointly encode the dopaminergic state in Parkinson's disease

Brain states in health and disease are classically defined by the power or the spontaneous amplitude modulation (AM) of neuronal oscillations in specific frequency bands. Conversely, the possible role of the spontaneous frequency modulation (FM) in defining pathophysiological brain states remains unclear. As a paradigmatic example of pathophysiological resting states, here we assessed the spontaneous AM and FM dynamics of subthalamic beta oscillations recorded in patients with Parkinson's disease before and after levodopa administration. Even though AM and FM are mathematically independent, they displayed negatively correlated dynamics. First, AM decreased while FM increased with levodopa. Second, instantaneous amplitude and instantaneous frequency were negatively cross-correlated within dopaminergic states, with FM following AM by approximately one beta cycle. Third, AM and FM changes were also negatively correlated between dopaminergic states. Both the slow component of the FM and the fast component (i.e. the phase slips) increased after levodopa, but they differently contributed to the AM-FM correlations within and between states. Finally, AM and FM provided information about whether the patients were OFF vs. ON levodopa, with partial redundancy and with FM being more informative than AM. AM and FM of spontaneous beta oscillations can thus both separately and jointly encode the dopaminergic state in patients with Parkinson's disease. These results suggest that resting brain states are defined not only by AM dynamics but also, and possibly more prominently, by FM dynamics of neuronal oscillations.

Intermittent route to generalized synchronization in bidirectionally coupled chaotic oscillators

The type of transition from asynchronous behavior to the generalized synchronization regime in mutually coupled chaotic oscillators has been studied. To separate the epochs of the synchronous and asynchronous motion in time series of mutually coupled chaotic oscillators, a method based on the local Lyapunov exponent calculation has been proposed. The efficiency of the method has been testified using the examples of unidirectionally coupled dynamical systems for which the type of transition is well known. The transition to generalized synchronization regime in mutually coupled systems has been shown to be an on-off intermittency as well as in the case of the unidirectional coupling.

Jump intermittency as a second type of transition to and from generalized synchronization

The transition from asynchronous dynamics to generalized chaotic synchronization and then to completely synchronous dynamics is known to be accompanied by on-off intermittency. We show that there is another (second) type of the transition called jump intermittency which occurs near the boundary of generalized synchronization in chaotic systems with complex two-sheeted attractors. Although this transient behavior also exhibits intermittent dynamics, it differs sufficiently from on-off intermittency supposed hitherto to be the only type of motion corresponding to the transition to generalized synchronization. This type of transition has been revealed and the underling mechanism has been explained in both unidirectionally and mutually coupled chaotic Lorenz and Chen oscillators. To detect the epochs of synchronous and asynchronous motion in mutually coupled oscillators with complex topology of an attractor a technique based on finding time intervals when the phase trajectories are located on equal or different sheets of chaotic attractors of coupled oscillators has been developed. We have also shown that in the unidirectionally coupled systems the proposed technique gives the same results that may obtained with the help of the traditional method using the auxiliary system approach.

Causal stability and synchronization

Synchronization of chaos arises between coupled dynamical systems and is very well understood as a temporal phenomenon, which leads the coupled systems to converge or develop a dependence with time. In this work, we provide a complementary spatial perspective to this phenomenon by introducing the novel idea of causal stability. We then propose and prove a causal stability synchronization theorem as a necessary and sufficient condition for complete synchronization. We also provide an empirical criterion to identify synchronizing variables in coupled identical chaotic dynamical systems based on intrasystem causal influences estimated using time series data of the driving system alone. For this, a recently proposed measure, Compression-Complexity Causality (CCC), is used. The sign and magnitude of the estimated CCC value capture the nature of dynamical influences from each variable to rest of the subsystem and are thus able to determine whether or not the variable, when used to couple another system, will drive that system to synchronization.

Self-similarity in explosive synchronization of complex networks

We report that explosive synchronization of networked oscillators (a process through which the transition to coherence occurs without intermediate stages but is rather characterized by a sudden and abrupt jump from the network's asynchronous to synchronous motion) is related to self-similarity of synchronous clusters of different size. Self-similarity is revealed by destructing the network synchronous state during the backward transition and observed with the decrease of the coupling strength between the nodes of the network. As illustrative examples, networks of Kuramoto oscillators with different topologies of links have been considered. For each one of such topologies, the destruction of the synchronous state goes step by step with self-similar configurations of interacting oscillators. At the critical point, the invariance of the phase distribution in the synchronized cluster with respect to the cluster size is reported.

Experimental evidence of deterministic coherence resonance in coupled chaotic systems with frequency mismatch

We present the experimental evidence of deterministic coherence resonance in unidirectionally coupled two and three Rössler electronic oscillators with mismatch between their natural frequencies. The regularity in both the amplitude and the phase of chaotic fluctuations is experimentally proven by the analyses of normalized standard deviations of the peak amplitude and interpeak interval and Lyapunov exponents. The resonant chaos suppression appears when the coupling strength is increased and the oscillators are in phase synchronization. In two coupled oscillators, the coherence enhancement is associated with negative third and fourth Lyapunov exponents, while the largest first and second exponents remain positive. Distinctly, in three oscillators coupled in a ring, all exponents become negative, giving rise to periodicity. Numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experiments.

Frequency-locked chaotic opto-RF oscillator

A driven opto-RF oscillator, consisting of a dual-frequency laser (DFL) submitted to frequency-shifted feedback, is experimentally and numerically studied in a chaotic regime. Precise control of the reinjection strength and detuning permits isolation of a parameter region of bounded-phase chaos, where the opto-RF oscillator is frequency-locked to the master oscillator, in spite of chaotic phase and intensity oscillations. Robust experimental evidence of this synchronization regime is found, and phase noise spectra allow us to compare phase-locking and bounded-phase chaos regimes. In particular, it is found that the long-term phase stability of the master oscillator is well transferred to the opto-RF oscillator, even in the chaotic regime.

Separation of coexisting dynamical regimes in multistate intermittency based on wavelet spectrum energies in an erbium-doped fiber laser

We propose a method for the detection and localization of different types of coexisting oscillatory regimes that alternate with each other leading to multistate intermittency. Our approach is based on consideration of wavelet spectrum energies. The proposed technique is tested in an erbium-doped fiber laser with four coexisting periodic orbits, where external noise induces intermittent switches between the coexisting states. Statistical characteristics of multistate intermittency, such as the mean duration of the phases for every oscillation type, are examined with the help of the developed method. We demonstrate strong advantages of the proposed technique over previously used amplitude methods.

Generalized synchronization in mutually coupled oscillators and complex networks

We introduce a concept of generalized synchronization, able to encompass the setting of collective synchronized behavior for mutually coupled systems and networking systems featuring complex topologies in their connections. The onset of the synchronous regime is confirmed by the dependence of the system's Lyapunov exponents on the coupling parameter. The presence of a generalized synchronization regime is verified by means of the nearest neighbor method.

Ring intermittency near the boundary of the synchronous time scales of chaotic oscillators

In this Brief Report we study both experimentally and numerically the intermittent behavior taking place near the boundary of the synchronous time scales of chaotic oscillators being in the regime of time scale synchronization. We have shown that the observed type of the intermittent behavior should be classified as the ring intermittency.

Transition to complete synchronization in phase-coupled oscillators with nearest neighbor coupling

We investigate synchronization in a Kuramoto-like model with nearest neighbor coupling. Upon analyzing the behavior of individual oscillators at the onset of complete synchronization, we show that the time interval between bursts in the time dependence of the frequencies of the oscillators exhibits universal scaling and blows up at the critical coupling strength. We also bring out a key mechanism that leads to phase locking. Finally, we deduce forms for the phases and frequencies at the onset of complete synchronization.

Automated synchrogram analysis applied to heartbeat and reconstructed respiration

Phase synchronization between two weakly coupled oscillators has been studied in chaotic systems for a long time. However, it is difficult to unambiguously detect such synchronization in experimental data from complex physiological systems. In this paper we review our study of phase synchronization between heartbeat and respiration in 150 healthy subjects during sleep using an automated procedure for screening the synchrograms. We found that this synchronization is significantly enhanced during non-rapid-eye-movement (non-REM) sleep (deep sleep and light sleep) and is reduced during REM sleep. In addition, we show that the respiration signal can be reconstructed from the heartbeat recordings in many subjects. Our reconstruction procedure, which works particularly well during non-REM sleep, allows the detection of cardiorespiratory synchronization even if only heartbeat intervals were recorded.

Zero Lyapunov exponent in the vicinity of the saddle-node bifurcation point in the presence of noise

We consider a behavior of the zero Lyapunov exponent in the vicinity of the bifurcation point that occurs as the result of the interplay between dynamical mechanisms and random dynamics. We analytically deduce the laws for the dependence of this Lyapunov exponent on the control parameter both above and below the bifurcation point. The developed theory is applicable both to the systems with the random force and to the deterministic chaotic oscillators. We find an excellent agreement between the theoretical predictions and the data obtained by means of numerical calculations. We also discuss how the revealed regularities are expected to take place in other relevant physical circumstances.

Synchronization in networks of spatially extended systems

Synchronization processes in networks of spatially extended dynamical systems are analytically and numerically studied. We focus on the relevant case of networks whose elements (or nodes) are spatially extended dynamical systems, with the nodes being connected with each other by scalar signals. The stability of the synchronous spatio-temporal state for a generic network is analytically assessed by means of an extension of the master stability function approach. We find an excellent agreement between the theoretical predictions and the data obtained by means of numerical calculations. The efficiency and reliability of this method is illustrated numerically with networks of beam-plasma chaotic systems (Pierce diodes). We discuss also how the revealed regularities are expected to take place in other relevant physical and biological circumstances.

Attractor selection in a modulated laser and in the Lorenz circuit

By tuning a control parameter, a chaotic system can either display two or more attractors (generalized multistability) or exhibit an interior crisis, whereby a chaotic attractor suddenly expands to include the region of an unstable orbit (bursting regime).Recently, control of multistability and bursting have been experimentally proved in a modulated class B laser by means of a feedback method. In a bistable regime, the method relies on the knowledge of the frequency components of the two attractors. Near an interior crisis, the method requires retrieval of the unstable orbit colliding with the chaotic attractor. We also show that a suitable parameter modulation is able to control bistability in the Lorenz system. We observe that, for every given modulation frequency, the chaotic attractor is destroyed under a boundary crisis. The threshold control amplitude depends on the control frequency and the location of the operating point in the bistable regime. Beyond the boundary crisis, the system remains in the steady state even if the control is switched off, demonstrating control of bistability.

Length distribution of laminar phases for type-I intermittency in the presence of noise

We consider a type of intermittent behavior that occurs as the result of the interplay between dynamical mechanisms giving rise to type-I intermittency and random dynamics. We analytically deduce the laws for the distribution of the laminar phases, with the law for the mean length of the laminar phases versus the critical parameter deduced earlier [W.-H. Kye and C.-M. Kim, Phys. Rev. E 62, 6304 (2000)] being the corollary fact of the developed theory. We find a very good agreement between the theoretical predictions and the data obtained by means of both the experimental study and numerical calculations. We discuss also how this mechanism is expected to take place in other relevant physical circumstances.

Experimental observation of different types of chaotic synchronization in an electrochemical cell

Chaotic synchronization for a pair of electrochemical oscillators is studied experimentally. The underlying bidirectional coupling between the two oscillators is achieved by immersing the two anodes in a common electrolytic solution. The horizontal distance between these two electrodes determines the strength of the coupling constant. On monotonically decreasing the distance between the two anodes, different domains of chaotic synchronization, namely, no, phase, lag, and complete synchronization, are identified. Furthermore, dynamics from the different transition intervals are also characterized.

Two types of phase synchronization destruction

In this paper we report that there are two different types of destruction of the phase synchronization (PS) regime of chaotic oscillators depending on the parameter mismatch as well as in the case of the classical synchronization of periodic oscillators. When the parameter mismatch of the interacting chaotic oscillators is small enough, the PS breaking takes place without the destruction of the phase coherence of chaotic attractors of oscillators. Alternatively, due to the large frequency detuning, the PS breaking is accomplished by loss of the phase coherence of the chaotic attractors.

Experimental evidence for phase synchronization transitions in the human cardiorespiratory system

Transitions in the dynamics of complex systems can be characterized by changes in the synchronization behavior of their components. Taking the human cardiorespiratory system as an example and using an automated procedure for screening the synchrograms of 112 healthy subjects we study the frequency and the distribution of synchronization episodes under different physiological conditions that occur during sleep. We find that phase synchronization between heartbeat and breathing is significantly enhanced during non-rapid-eye-movement (non-REM) sleep (deep sleep and light sleep) and reduced during REM sleep. Our results suggest that the synchronization is mainly due to a weak influence of the breathing oscillator upon the heartbeat oscillator, which is disturbed in the presence of long-term correlated noise, superimposed by the activity of higher brain regions during REM sleep.

Synchronization of spontaneous bursting in a CO2 laser

We present experimental and numerical evidence of synchronization of burst events in two different modulated CO2 lasers. Bursts appear randomly in each laser as trains of large amplitude spikes intercalated by a small amplitude chaotic regime. Experimental data and model show the frequency locking of bursts in a suitable interval of coupling strength. We explain the mechanism of this phenomenon and demonstrate the inhibitory properties of the implemented coupling.

Method for determining a coupling function in coupled oscillators with application to Belousov-Zhabotinsky oscillators

A coupling function that describes the interaction between self-sustained oscillators in a phase equation is derived and applied experimentally to Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) oscillators. It is demonstrated that the synchronous behavior of coupled BZ reactors is explained extremely well in terms of the coupling function thus obtained. This method does not require comprehensive knowledge of either the oscillation mechanism or the interaction among the oscillators, both of these being often difficult to elucidate in an actual system. These facts enable us to accurately analyze the weakly coupled entrainment phenomenon through the direct measurement of the coupling function.

Ring intermittency in coupled chaotic oscillators at the boundary of phase synchronization

A new type of intermittent behavior is described to occur near the boundary of the phase synchronization regime of coupled chaotic oscillators. This mechanism, called ring intermittency, arises for sufficiently high initial mismatches in the frequencies of the two coupled systems. The laws for both the distribution and the mean length of the laminar phases versus the coupling strength are analytically deduced. Very good agreement between the theoretical results and the numerically calculated data is shown. We discuss how this mechanism is expected to take place in other relevant physical circumstances.

Critical dynamics of phase transition driven by dichotomous Markov noise

An Ising spin system under the critical temperature driven by a dichotomous Markov noise (magnetic field) with a finite correlation time is studied both numerically and theoretically. The order parameter exhibits a transition between two kinds of qualitatively different dynamics, symmetry-restoring and symmetry-breaking motions, as the noise intensity is changed. There exist regions called channels where the order parameter stays for a long time slightly above its critical noise intensity. Developing a phenomenological analysis of the dynamics, we investigate the distribution of the passage time through the channels and the power spectrum of the order parameter evolution. The results based on the phenomenological analysis turn out to be in quite good agreement with those of the numerical simulation.

Synchronization of chaotic systems with coexisting attractors

Synchronization of coupled oscillators exhibiting the coexistence of chaotic attractors is investigated, both numerically and experimentally. The route from the asynchronous motion to a completely synchronized state is characterized by the sequence of type-I and on-off intermittencies, intermittent phase synchronization, anticipated synchronization, and period-doubling phase synchronization.

Experimental evidence of anomalous phase synchronization in two diffusively coupled Chua oscillators

We study the transition to phase synchronization in two diffusively coupled, nonidentical Chua oscillators. In the experiments, depending on the used parameterization, we observe several distinct routes to phase synchronization, including states of either in-phase, out-of-phase, or antiphase synchronization, which may be intersected by an intermediate desynchronization regime with large fluctuations of the frequency difference. Furthermore, we report the first experimental evidence of an anomalous transition to phase synchronization, which is characterized by an initial enlargement of the natural frequency difference with coupling strength. This results in a maximal frequency disorder at intermediate coupling levels, whereas usual phase synchronization via monotonic decrease in frequency difference sets in only for larger coupling values. All experimental results are supported by numerical simulations of two coupled Chua models.

Determination of a coupling function in multicoupled oscillators

A new method to determine a coupling function in a phase model is theoretically derived for coupled self-sustained oscillators and applied to Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) oscillators. The synchronous behavior of two coupled BZ reactors is explained extremely well in terms of the coupling function thus obtained. This method is expected to be applicable to weakly coupled multioscillator systems, in which mutual coupling among nearly identical oscillators occurs in a similar manner. The importance of higher-order harmonic terms involved in the coupling function is also discussed.

Comment on "Periodic phase synchronization in coupled chaotic oscillators"

Kye [Phys. Rev. E 68, 025201 (2003)] have recently claimed that, before the onset of chaotic phase synchronization in coupled phase coherent oscillators, there exists a temporally coherent state called periodic phase synchronization (PPS). Here we give evidence that some of their numerical calculations are flawed, while we provide theoretical arguments that indicate that PPS is not to be expected generically in this type of systems.

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.

Spatiotemporal synchronization of coupled oscillators in a laboratory plasma

The spatiotemporal synchronization between two plasma instabilities of autonomous glow discharge tubes is observed experimentally. For this purpose, two tubes are placed separately and two chaotic waves interact with each other through a coupler. When the coupling strength is changed, the coupled oscillators exhibit synchronization in time and space. This is the first experimental evidence of spatiotemporal synchronization by mutual chaotic wave interaction in plasma.

Attractor selection in chaotic dynamics

For different settings of a control parameter, a chaotic system can go from a region with two separate stable attractors (generalized bistability) to a crisis where a chaotic attractor expands, colliding with an unstable orbit. In the bistable regime jumps between independent attractors are mediated by external perturbations; above the crisis, the dynamics includes visits to regions formerly belonging to the unstable orbits and this appears as random bursts of amplitude jumps. We introduce a control method which suppresses the jumps in both cases by filtering the specific frequency content of one of the two dynamical objects. The method is tested both in a model and in a real experiment with a CO2 laser.

Predicting phase synchronization in a spiking chaotic CO2 laser

An approach is presented for the reconstruction of phase synchronization phenomena in a chaotic CO2 laser from experimental data. We analyze this laser system in a regime able to phase synchronize with a weak sinusoidal forcing. Our technique recovers the synchronization diagram of the experimental system from only few measurement data sets, thus allowing the prediction of the regime of phase synchronization as well as nonsynchronization in a broad parameter space of forcing frequency and amplitude without further experiments.

Synchronization in a chain of nearest neighbors coupled oscillators with fixed ends

We investigate a system of coupled phase oscillators with nearest neighbors coupling in a chain with fixed ends. We find that the system synchronizes to a common value of the time-averaged frequency, which depends on the initial phases of the oscillators at the ends of the chain. This time-averaged frequency decays as the coupling strength increases. Near the transition to the frozen state, the time-averaged frequency has a power law behavior as a function of the coupling strength, with synchronized time-averaged frequency equal to zero. Associated with this power law, there is an increase in phases of each oscillator with 2pi jumps with a scaling law of the elapsed time between jumps. During the interval between the full frequency synchronization and the transition to the frozen state, the maximum Lyapunov exponent indicates quasiperiodicity. Time series analysis of the oscillators frequency shows this quasiperiodicity, as the coupling strength increases.

Competition of synchronization domains in arrays of chaotic homoclinic systems

We investigate the response of an open chain of bidirectionally coupled chaotic homoclinic systems to external periodic stimuli. When one end of the chain is driven by a periodic signal, the system propagates a phase synchronization state in a certain range of coupling strengths and external frequencies. When two simultaneous forcings are applied at different points of the array, a rich phenomenology of stable competitive states is observed, including temporal alternation and spatial coexistence of synchronization domains.

Controlling transient dynamics to communicate with homoclinic chaos

A control that stabilizes the transient dynamics of a homoclinic chaotic laser is used to encode discrete sources of information. The controlled trajectory is a complex spiking signal that has a constrained interspike interval, and therefore, the ratio of information transmitted is approximately constant. We also show that the controlled signal that encodes the source contains more information than the source. This property is advantageously used to correct possible errors in the transmission, or to increase the ratio of information per transmitted spike.

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.

Generalized synchronization of chaos in He-Ne lasers

We experimentally demonstrate synchronization of chaos in one-way coupled He-Ne lasers with optical feedback. We observe different types of synchronization such as identical synchronization, inverse synchronization, and random amplification. These dynamics are maintained only for a short duration of several hundred milliseconds. We also observe generalized synchronization of chaos by using one master and two slave lasers. The generalized synchronization is achieved for a long duration of tens of seconds under injection locking. The generalized synchronization is always maintained while the injection locking is achieved.

Transition from phase synchronization to complete synchronization in mutually coupled nonidentical Nd:YAG lasers

Using mutually coupled nonidentical continuous-wave Nd:YAG lasers, we experimentally confirmed the recently proposed transition route from phase synchronization to complete synchronization. As evidence of this transition we obtained the probability distribution of the intermittent synchronization time near the threshold of the complete synchronization transition.