US Naval Research Laboratory, Department of Material Science and Technology, Washington, District of Columbia 20375, USA.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA.
Nat Commun. 2014 Jun 13;5:4079. doi: 10.1038/ncomms5079.
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. The connection between symmetries and cluster synchronization is experimentally confirmed in the context of real networks with heterogeneities and noise using an electro-optic network. We experimentally observe and theoretically predict a surprising phenomenon in which some clusters lose synchrony without disturbing the others. Our analysis shows that such behaviour will occur in a wide variety of networks and node dynamics. The results could guide the design of new power grid systems or lead to new understanding of the dynamical behaviour of networks ranging from neural to social.
同步在配电、电信、神经元和生物网络中具有核心重要性。许多网络被观察到产生同步簇的模式，但很难预测这些簇，也很难理解它们形成的条件。在这里，我们提出了一个新的框架，并开发了用于分析网络动态的技术，该技术展示了网络对称和簇形成之间的联系。使用电光网络，在具有异质性和噪声的真实网络的背景下，通过实验证实了对称和簇同步之间的联系。我们实验观察到并从理论上预测了一种令人惊讶的现象，即一些簇失去同步而不干扰其他簇。我们的分析表明，这种行为将发生在各种各样的网络和节点动力学中。这些结果可以指导新的电网系统的设计，或者导致对从神经到社会的各种网络的动态行为的新理解。
