Complete chaotic synchronization in mutually coupled time-delay systems.

Complete chaotic synchronization of end lasers has been observed in a line of mutually coupled, time-delayed system of three lasers, with no direct communication between the end lasers. The present paper uses ideas from generalized synchronization to explain the complete synchronization in the presence of long coupling delays, applied to a model of mutually coupled semiconductor lasers in a line. These ideas significantly simplify the analysis by casting the stability in terms of the local dynamics of each laser. The variational equations near the synchronization manifold are analyzed, and used to derive the synchronization condition that is a function of parameters. The results explain and predict the dependence of synchronization on various parameters, such as time delays, strength of coupling and dissipation. The ideas can be applied to understand complete synchronization in other chaotic systems with coupling delays and no direct communication between synchronized subsystems.