Some elements for a history of the dynamical systems theory.

Writing a history of a scientific theory is always difficult because it requires to focus on some key contributors and to "reconstruct" some supposed influences. In the 1970s, a new way of performing science under the name "chaos" emerged, combining the mathematics from the nonlinear dynamical systems theory and numerical simulations. To provide a direct testimony of how contributors can be influenced by other scientists or works, we here collected some writings about the early times of a few contributors to chaos theory.

Symmetries and cluster synchronization in multilayer networks.

Real-world systems in epidemiology, social sciences, power transportation, economics and engineering are often described as multilayer networks. Here we first define and compute the symmetries of multilayer networks, and then study the emergence of cluster synchronization in these networks. We distinguish between independent layer symmetries, which occur in one layer and are independent of the other layers, and dependent layer symmetries, which involve nodes in different layers.

Symmetry induced group consensus.

There has been substantial work studying consensus problems for which there is a single common final state, although there are many real-world complex networks for which the complete consensus may be undesirable. More recently, the concept of group consensus whereby subsets of nodes are chosen to reach a common final state distinct from others has been developed, but the methods tend to be independent of the underlying network topology. Here, an alternative type of group consensus is achieved for which nodes that are "symmetric" achieve a common final state.

Cluster Synchronization in Multilayer Networks: A Fully Analog Experiment with LC Oscillators with Physically Dissimilar Coupling.

We investigate cluster synchronization in experiments with a multilayer network of electronic Colpitts oscillators, specifically a network with two interaction layers. We observe and analytically characterize the appearance of several cluster states as we change coupling in the layers. In this study, we innovatively combine bifurcation analysis and the computation of transverse Lyapunov exponents.

Symmetries in the time-averaged dynamics of networks: Reducing unnecessary complexity through minimal network models.

Complex networks are the subject of fundamental interest from the scientific community at large. Several metrics have been introduced to characterize the structure of these networks, such as the degree distribution, degree correlation, path length, clustering coefficient, centrality measures, etc. Another important feature is the presence of network symmetries.

Symmetry- and input-cluster synchronization in networks.

We study cluster synchronization in networks and show that the stability of all possible cluster synchronization patterns depends on a small set of Lyapunov exponents. Our approach can be applied to clusters corresponding to both orbital partitions of the network nodes (symmetry-cluster synchronization) and equitable partitions of the network nodes (input-cluster synchronization). Our results are verified experimentally in networks of coupled optoelectronic oscillators.

Introduction to focus issue: Patterns of network synchronization.

The study of synchronization of coupled systems is currently undergoing a major surge fueled by recent discoveries of new forms of collective dynamics and the development of techniques to characterize a myriad of new patterns of network synchronization. This includes chimera states, phenomena determined by symmetry, remote synchronization, and asymmetry-induced synchronization. This Focus Issue presents a selection of contributions at the forefront of these developments, to which this introduction is intended to offer an up-to-date foundation.

Approximate cluster synchronization in networks with symmetries and parameter mismatches.

We study cluster synchronization in networks with symmetries in the presence of small generic parametric mismatches of two different types: mismatches affecting the dynamics of the individual uncoupled systems and mismatches affecting the network couplings. We perform a stability analysis of the nearly synchronous cluster synchronization solution and reduce the stability problem to a low-dimensional form. We also show how under certain conditions the low dimensional analysis can be used to predict the overall synchronization error, i.

Complete characterization of the stability of cluster synchronization in complex dynamical networks.

Synchronization is an important and prevalent phenomenon in natural and engineered systems. In many dynamical networks, the coupling is balanced or adjusted to admit global synchronization, a condition called Laplacian coupling. Many networks exhibit incomplete synchronization, where two or more clusters of synchronization persist, and computational group theory has recently proved to be valuable in discovering these cluster states based on the topology of the network.

Synchronization of chaotic systems.

We review some of the history and early work in the area of synchronization in chaotic systems. We start with our own discovery of the phenomenon, but go on to establish the historical timeline of this topic back to the earliest known paper. The topic of synchronization of chaotic systems has always been intriguing, since chaotic systems are known to resist synchronization because of their positive Lyapunov exponents.

Cluster synchronization and isolated desynchronization in complex networks with symmetries.

Synchronization is of central importance in power distribution, telecommunication, neuronal and biological networks. Many networks are observed to produce patterns of synchronized clusters, but it has been difficult to predict these clusters or understand the conditions under which they form. Here we present a new framework and develop techniques for the analysis of network dynamics that shows the connection between network symmetries and cluster formation.

Harnessing quantum transport by transient chaos.

Chaos has long been recognized to be generally advantageous from the perspective of control. In particular, the infinite number of unstable periodic orbits embedded in a chaotic set and the intrinsically sensitive dependence on initial conditions imply that a chaotic system can be controlled to a desirable state by using small perturbations. Investigation of chaos control, however, was largely limited to nonlinear dynamical systems in the classical realm.

Theory of chaos regularization of tunneling in chaotic quantum dots.

Recent numerical experiments of Pecora et al. [Phys. Rev.

"Weak quantum chaos" and its resistor network modeling.

Weakly chaotic or weakly interacting systems have a wide regime where the common random matrix theory modeling does not apply. As an example we consider cold atoms in a nearly integrable optical billiard with a displaceable wall (piston). The motion is completely chaotic but with a small Lyapunov exponent.

Chaos regularization of quantum tunneling rates.

Quantum tunneling rates through a barrier separating two-dimensional, symmetric, double-well potentials are shown to depend on the classical dynamics of the billiard trajectories in each well and, hence, on the shape of the wells. For shapes that lead to regular (integrable) classical dynamics the tunneling rates fluctuate greatly with eigenenergies of the states sometimes by over two orders of magnitude. Contrarily, shapes that lead to completely chaotic trajectories lead to tunneling rates whose fluctuations are greatly reduced, a phenomenon we call regularization of tunneling rates.

Generic behavior of master-stability functions in coupled nonlinear dynamical systems.

Master-stability functions (MSFs) are fundamental to the study of synchronization in complex dynamical systems. For example, for a coupled oscillator network, a necessary condition for synchronization to occur is that the MSF at the corresponding normalized coupling parameters be negative. To understand the typical behaviors of the MSF for various chaotic oscillators is key to predicting the collective dynamics of a network of these oscillators.

A unified approach to attractor reconstruction.

In the analysis of complex, nonlinear time series, scientists in a variety of disciplines have relied on a time delayed embedding of their data, i.e., attractor reconstruction.

Using chaotic forcing to detect damage in a structure.

In this work we develop a numerical test for Holder continuity and apply it and another test for continuity to the difficult problem of detecting damage in structures. We subject a thin metal plate with incremental damage to the plate changes, its filtering properties, and therefore the phase space trajectories of the response chaotic excitation of various bandwidths. Damage to the plate changes its filtering properties and therefore the phase space of the response.

Analytical coupling detection in the presence of noise and nonlinearity.

A rigorous analytical approach is developed to test for the existence of a continuous nonlinear functional relationship between systems. We compare the application of this nonlinear local technique to the existing analytical linear global approach in the setting of increasing additive noise. For natural systems with unknown levels of noise and nonlinearity, we propose a general framework for detecting coupling.

Assessment of damage in an eight-oscillator circuit using dynamical forcing.

We employ chaotic interrogation of a circuit simulation of a structure in order to test for damage to the structure. The circuit simulation provides a realistic test of our attractor-based method and permits close control over parameters in the structure. In this circuit, simulating an eight-degree-of-freedom spring-mass system, we were able to detect changes of as little as 2% in the coupling between two oscillators in the circuit.

Fundamentals of synchronization in chaotic systems, concepts, and applications.

The field of chaotic synchronization has grown considerably since its advent in 1990. Several subdisciplines and "cottage industries" have emerged that have taken on bona fide lives of their own. Our purpose in this paper is to collect results from these various areas in a review article format with a tutorial emphasis.

Experimental investigation of high-quality synchronization of coupled oscillators.

We describe two experiments in which we investigate the synchronization of coupled periodic oscillators. Each experimental system consists of two identical coupled electronic periodic oscillators that display bursts of desynchronization events similar to those observed previously in coupled chaotic systems. We measure the degree of synchronization as a function of coupling strength.

Synchronization in small-world systems.

We quantify the dynamical implications of the small-world phenomenon by considering the generic synchronization of oscillator networks of arbitrary topology. The linear stability of the synchronous state is linked to an algebraic condition of the Laplacian matrix of the network. Through numerics and analysis, we show how the addition of random shortcuts translates into improved network synchronizability.