Designing heteroclinic and excitable networks in phase space using two populations of coupled cells (Q266421)

Consider an arbitrary directed graph with no one-cycles. The authors give a constructive method for creating an attracting heteroclinic or excitable dynamic network in phase space corresponding to the graph. The network consists of cells of two different types, \(p\) and \(y\). \(p\) cells are inhibitory, and only one is active at one time; the identity of this cell gives the vertex that the system is currently close to. \(y\) cells are excitatory and are only active during a transition between vertices. Such networks exist for open parameter sets. The construction is shown for one particular previously-studied graph with four vertices and five edges, and the effects of small-amplitude noise on the dynamics are briefly discussed.