Periodic patterns in a ring of delay-coupled oscillators

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2010 Sep;82(3 Pt 2):036208. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.82.036208. Epub 2010 Sep 20.

Abstract

We describe the appearance and stability of spatiotemporal periodic patterns (rotating waves) in unidirectional rings of coupled oscillators with delayed couplings. We show how delays in the coupling lead to the splitting of each rotating wave into several new ones. The appearance of rotating waves is mediated by the Hopf bifurcations of the symmetric equilibrium. We also conclude that the coupling delays can be effectively replaced by increasing the number of oscillators in the chain. The phenomena are shown for the Stuart-Landau oscillators as well as for the coupled FitzHugh-Nagumo systems modeling an ensemble of spiking neurons interacting via excitatory chemical synapses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Neurons / cytology
  • Periodicity*
  • Time Factors