Synchronization. From simple to complex (Q931221)

This book covers some aspects of phase synchronization theory, which became an important field within the nonlinear dynamics research. Although the term ``synchronization'' has no precise definition in mathematics, the authors suggest the following explanation: ``Synchronization is an adjustment of the time scales of oscillations due to interaction between the oscillating processes.'' The main focus is to study how oscillating systems change their dynamical properties, e.g. frequencies, amplitudes, through an interaction. Basic mathematical models used in the book are systems of ordinary differential equations, which are coupled with each other via coupling terms. As coupling increases or decreases, different collective phenomena may appear. Among them the most remarkable is the frequency locking, i.e. when the frequencies of systems become equal. Some other collective phenomena may occur as well, like oscillation death, forced frequency locking, suppression, high-order locking, locking in the presence of noise, etc. The above phenomena are discussed in the book in details using different examples: Van der Pol oscillators, Rössler oscillators, FitzHugh-Nagumo models, etc. One of the strong features of this book is that many calculations have been made in sufficient detail in order to be understandable for readers with a basic knowledge in mathematics. The book consists of two parts: ``General mechanisms of synchronization'' and ``Case studies in synchronization''. The first part is devoted to earlier classical results in the field while the second part looks at specific classes of systems in more details. The following list of chapters give an overview of the book structure: 1:1 forced synchronization of periodic oscillators (PO); 1:1 mutual synchronization of PO; homoclinic mechanism of synchronization of PO; \(n:m\) synchronization of PO; 1:1 forced synchronization of PO in the presence of noise; chaos synchronization; synchronization of noise-induced oscillators; synchronization of anisochronous oscillators; phase multistabllity; synchronization in systems with complex multimode dynamics; synchronization of systems with resource mediated coupling.