Multistable behavior above synchronization in a locally coupled Kuramoto model

A system of nearest neighbors Kuramoto-like coupled oscillators placed in a ring is studied above the critical synchronization transition. We find a richness of solutions when the coupling increases, which exists only within a solvability region (SR). We also find that they posses different characteristics, depending on the section of the boundary of the SR where the solutions appear. We study the birth of these solutions and how they evolve when {K} increases, and determine the diagram of solutions in phase space.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Robustness of the noise-induced phase synchronization in a general class of limit cycle oscillators

We show that a wide class of uncoupled limit cycle oscillators can be in-phase synchronized by common weak additive noise. An expression of the Lyapunov exponent is analytically derived to study the stability of the noise-driven synchronizing state. The result shows that such a synchronization can be achieved in a broad class of oscillators with little constraint on their intrinsic property. On the other hand, the leaky integrate-and-fire neuron oscillators do not belong to this class, generating intermittent phase slips according to a power low distribution of their intervals.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Helicoidal instability of a scroll vortex in three-dimensional reaction-diffusion systems

We study the dynamics of scroll vortices in excitable reaction-diffusion systems analytically and numerically. We demonstrate that intrinsic three-dimensional instability of a straight scroll leads to the formation of helicoidal structures. This behavior originates from the competition between the scroll curvature and unstable core dynamics. We show that the obtained instability persists even beyond the meander core instability of two-dimensional spiral wave.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, revte

Forced Symmetry Breaking from SO(3) to SO(2) for Rotating Waves on the Sphere

We consider a small SO(2)-equivariant perturbation of a reaction-diffusion system on the sphere, which is equivariant with respect to the group SO(3) of all rigid rotations. We consider a normally hyperbolic SO(3)-group orbit of a rotating wave on the sphere that persists to a normally hyperbolic SO(2)-invariant manifold $M(\epsilon)$. We investigate the effects of this forced symmetry breaking by studying the perturbed dynamics induced on $M(\epsilon)$ by the above reaction-diffusion system. We prove that depending on the frequency vectors of the rotating waves that form the relative equilibrium SO(3)u_{0}, these rotating waves will give SO(2)-orbits of rotating waves or SO(2)-orbits of modulated rotating waves (if some transversality conditions hold). The orbital stability of these solutions is established as well. Our main tools are the orbit space reduction, Poincare map and implicit function theorem

Scroll waves in isotropic excitable media : linear instabilities, bifurcations and restabilized states

Scroll waves are three-dimensional analogs of spiral waves. The linear stability spectrum of untwisted and twisted scroll waves is computed for a two-variable reaction-diffusion model of an excitable medium. Different bands of modes are seen to be unstable in different regions of parameter space. The corresponding bifurcations and bifurcated states are characterized by performing direct numerical simulations. In addition, computations of the adjoint linear stability operator eigenmodes are also performed and serve to obtain a number of matrix elements characterizing the long-wavelength deformations of scroll waves.Comment: 30 pages 16 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Theory of spiral wave dynamics in weakly excitable media: asymptotic reduction to a kinematic model and applications

In a weakly excitable medium, characterized by a large threshold stimulus, the free end of an isolated broken plane wave (wave tip) can either rotate (steadily or unsteadily) around a large excitable core, thereby producing a spiral pattern, or retract causing the wave to vanish at boundaries. An asymptotic analysis of spiral motion and retraction is carried out in this weakly excitable large core regime starting from the free-boundary limit of the reaction-diffusion models, valid when the excited region is delimited by a thin interface. The wave description is shown to naturally split between the tip region and a far region that are smoothly matched on an intermediate scale. This separation allows us to rigorously derive an equation of motion for the wave tip, with the large scale motion of the spiral wavefront slaved to the tip. This kinematic description provides both a physical picture and exact predictions for a wide range of wave behavior, including: (i) steady rotation (frequency and core radius), (ii) exact treatment of the meandering instability in the free-boundary limit with the prediction that the frequency of unstable motion is half the primary steady frequency (iii) drift under external actions (external field with application to axisymmetric scroll ring motion in three-dimensions, and spatial or/and time-dependent variation of excitability), and (iv) the dynamics of multi-armed spiral waves with the new prediction that steadily rotating waves with two or more arms are linearly unstable. Numerical simulations of FitzHug-Nagumo kinetics are used to test several aspects of our results. In addition, we discuss the semi-quantitative extension of this theory to finite cores and pinpoint mathematical subtleties related to the thin interface limit of singly diffusive reaction-diffusion models

Dynamics of lattice spins as a model of arrhythmia

We consider evolution of initial disturbances in spatially extended systems with autonomous rhythmic activity, such as the heart. We consider the case when the activity is stable with respect to very smooth (changing little across the medium) disturbances and construct lattice models for description of not-so-smooth disturbances, in particular, topological defects; these models are modifications of the diffusive XY model. We find that when the activity on each lattice site is very rigid in maintaining its form, the topological defects - vortices or spirals - nucleate a transition to a disordered, turbulent state.Comment: 17 pages, revtex, 3 figure

Optimal phase response curves for stochastic synchronization of limit-cycle oscillators by common Poisson noise

We consider optimization of phase response curves for stochastic synchronization of non-interacting limit-cycle oscillators by common Poisson impulsive signals. The optimal functional shape for sufficiently weak signals is sinusoidal, but can differ for stronger signals. By solving the Euler-Lagrange equation associated with the minimization of the Lyapunov exponent characterizing synchronization efficiency, the optimal phase response curve is obtained. We show that the optimal shape mutates from a sinusoid to a sawtooth as the constraint on its squared amplitude is varied.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

The branch processes of vortex filaments and Hopf Invariant Constraint on Scroll Wave

In this paper, by making use of Duan's topological current theory, the evolution of the vortex filaments in excitable media is discussed in detail. The vortex filaments are found generating or annihilating at the limit points and encountering, splitting, or merging at the bifurcation points of a complex function $Z(\vec{x},t)$. It is also shown that the Hopf invariant of knotted scroll wave filaments is preserved in the branch processes (splitting, merging, or encountering) during the evolution of these knotted scroll wave filaments. Furthermore, it also revealed that the "exclusion principle" in some chemical media is just the special case of the Hopf invariant constraint, and during the branch processes the "exclusion principle" is also protected by topology.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Theory of Spike Spiral Waves in a Reaction-Diffusion System

We discovered a new type of spiral wave solutions in reaction-diffusion systems --- spike spiral wave, which significantly differs from spiral waves observed in FitzHugh-Nagumo-type models. We present an asymptotic theory of these waves in Gray-Scott model. We derive the kinematic relations describing the shape of this spiral and find the dependence of its main parameters on the control parameters. The theory does not rely on the specific features of Gray-Scott model and thus is expected to be applicable to a broad range of reaction-diffusion systems.Comment: 4 pages (REVTeX), 2 figures (postscript), submitted to Phys. Rev. Let