Phase transition in crowd synchrony of delay-coupled multilayer laser networks

TL;DR

This paper investigates how delay-coupled multilayer laser networks exhibit a phase transition to crowd synchrony, revealing a universal behavior with hysteresis and diverging synchronization times near critical coupling.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking crowd synchrony in neural networks to laser networks, demonstrating a universal phase transition with hysteresis in delay-coupled laser systems.

Findings

Universal phase transition to crowd synchrony observed

Hysteresis occurs during the synchronization process

Synchronization time diverges near critical coupling

Abstract

An analogy between crowd synchrony and multi-layer neural network architectures is proposed. It indicates that many non-identical dynamical elements (oscillators) communicating indirectly via a few mediators (hubs) can synchronize when the number of delayed couplings to the hubs or the strength of the couplings is large enough. This phenomenon is modeled using a system of semiconductor lasers optically delay-coupled in either a fully connected or a diluted manner to a fixed number of non-identical central hub lasers. A universal phase transition to crowd synchrony with hysteresis is observed, where the time to achieve synchronization diverges near the critical coupling independent of the number of hubs.