Dynamics of coupled cell networks: synchrony, heteroclinic cycles and inflation (Q451129)

Dynamics of networks of coupled identical cells is studied. The authors consider cells with asymmetric inputs realized as a system of coupled ODEs with smooth dependence on the variables. The properties of such networks are presented, including equivalence of coupled cell networks, synchrony subspaces, and inflations. Inflation exhibits generation of new invariant subspaces and is inverse to forming a quotient network. It is proved that there are networks of three identical coupled cells that support robust heteroclinic cycles. Sufficient conditions for the existence of robust heteroclinic cycles are provided for networks with four or more cells. A model six cell example is considered that can support a variety of heteroclinic cycles and networks.