# Bound pulse trains in arrays of coupled spatially extended dynamical systems

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how arrays of coupled spatially extended systems can generate clustered pulse trains with variable inter-pulse distances, differing from solitary systems, and provides an analytical model validated by numerical simulations.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel regime of pulse clustering in coupled systems and offers a simplified analytical description validated by simulations.

## Key findings

- Arrays produce pulse clusters with variable spacing.
- Coupling phase controls pulse spacing.
- Analytical model agrees with numerical results.

## Abstract

We study the dynamics of an array of nearest-neighbor coupled spatially distributed systems each generating a periodic sequence of short pulses. We demonstrate that unlike a solitary system generating a train of equidistant pulses, an array of such systems can produce a sequence of clusters of closely packed pulses, with the distance between individual pulses depending on the coupling phase. This regime associated with the formation of locally coupled pulse trains bounded due to a balance of attraction and repulsion between them is different from the pulse bound states reported earlier in different laser, plasma, chemical, and biological systems. We propose a simplified analytical description of the observed phenomenon, which is in a good agreement with the results of direct numerical simulations of a model system describing an array of coupled mode-locked lasers.