Dynamical systems on networks with adaptive couplings appear naturally in realworld systems such as power grid networks, social networks as well as neuronal networks. We investigate a paradigmatic system of adaptively coupled phase oscillators inspired by neuronal networks with synaptic plasticity. One important behaviour of such systems reveals splitting of the network into clusters of oscillators with the same frequencies, where different clusters correspond to different frequencies. Starting from one-cluster solutions we provide existence criteria for multicluster solutions and present their explicit form. The phases of the oscillators within one cluster can be organized in different patterns: antipodal, double antipodal, and splay type. Interestingly, multi-clusters are shown to exist where different clusters exhibit different patterns. For instance, an antipodal cluster can coexist with a splay cluster. We also provide stability conditions for one-and multi-cluster solutions. These conditions, in particular, reveal a high level of multistability.

We study patterns of partial synchronization in a network of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators with empirical structural connectivity measured in human subjects. We report the spontaneous occurrence of synchronization phenomena that closely resemble the ones seen during epileptic seizures in humans. In order to obtain deeper insights into the interplay between dynamics and network topology, we perform long-term simulations of oscillatory dynamics on different paradigmatic network structures: random networks, regular nonlocally coupled ring networks, ring networks with fractal connectivities, and small-world networks with various rewiring probability. Among these networks, a small-world network with intermediate rewiring probability best mimics the findings achieved with the simulations using the empirical structural connectivity. For the other network topologies, either no spontaneously occurring epileptic-seizure-related synchronization phenomena can be observed in the simulated dynamics, or the overall degree of synchronization remains high throughout the simulation. This indicates that a topology with some balance between regularity and randomness favors the self-initiation and self-termination of episodes of seizure-like strong synchronization.

Adaptive dynamical networks appear in various real-word systems. One of the simplest phenomenological models for investigating basic properties of adaptive networks is the system of coupled phase oscillators with adaptive couplings. In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of this system. We extend recent results on the appearance of hierarchical frequency-multi-clusters by investigating the effect of the time-scale separation. We show that the slow adaptation in comparison with the fast phase dynamics is necessary for the emergence of the multi-clusters and their stability. Additionally, we study the role of double antipodal clusters, which appear to be unstable for all considered parameter values. We show that such states can be observed for a relatively long time, i.e., they are metastable. A geometrical explanation for such an effect is based on the emergence of a heteroclinic orbit.

Adaptive networks change their connectivity with time, depending on their dynamical state. While synchronization in structurally static networks has been studied extensively, this problem is much more challenging for adaptive networks. In this Letter, we develop the master stability approach for a large class of adaptive networks. This approach allows for reducing the synchronization problem for adaptive networks to a low-dimensional system, by decoupling topological and dynamical properties. We show how the interplay between adaptivity and network structure gives rise to the formation of stability islands. Moreover, we report a desynchronization transition and the emergence of complex partial synchronization patterns induced by an increasing overall coupling strength. We illustrate our findings using adaptive networks of coupled phase oscillators and FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons with synaptic plasticity.

We propose a concept to generate and stabilize diverse partial synchronization patterns (phase clusters) in adaptive networks which are widespread in neuro-and social sciences, as well as biology, engineering, and other disciplines. We show by theoretical analysis and computer simulations that multiplexing in a multi-layer network with symmetry can induce various stable phase cluster states in a situation where they are not stable or do not even exist in the single layer. Further, we develop a method for the analysis of Laplacian matrices of multiplex networks which allows for insight into the spectral structure of these networks enabling a reduction to the stability problem of single layers. We employ the multiplex decomposition to provide analytic results for the stability of the multilayer patterns. As local dynamics we use the paradigmatic Kuramoto phase oscillator, which is a simple generic model and has been successfully applied in the modeling of synchronization phenomena in a wide range of natural and technological systems.Complex networks are an ubiquitous paradigm in nature and technology, with a wide field of applications ranging from physics, chemistry, biology, neuroscience, to engineering and socio-economic systems. Of particular interest are adaptive networks, where the connectivity changes in time, for instance, the synaptic connections between neurons are adapted depending on the relative timing of neuronal spiking [1][2][3][4][5]. Similarly, chemical systems have been reported [6], where the reaction rates adapt dynamically depending on the variables of the system. Activity-dependent plasticity is also common in epidemics [7] and in biological or social systems [8]. Synchronization is an important feature of the dynamics in networks of coupled nonlinear oscillators [9][10][11][12][13]. Various synchronization patterns are known, like cluster synchronization where the network splits into groups of synchronous elements [14], or partial synchronization patterns like chimera states where the system splits into coexisting domains of coherent (synchronized) and incoherent (desynchronized) states [15][16][17]. These patterns were also explored in adaptive networks [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Furthermore, adapting the network topology has also successfully been used to control cluster synchronization in delay-coupled networks [34].Another focus of recent research in network science are multilayer networks, which are systems interconnected through different types of links [35][36][37][38]. A prominent example are social networks which can be described as groups of people with different patterns of contacts or interactions between them [39][40][41]. Other applications are communication, supply, and transportation networks, for instance power grids, subway networks, or airtraffic networks [42]. In neuroscience, multilayer networks represent for instance neurons in different areas of the brain, neurons connected either by a chemical link or by an electrical synapsis, or...

We report the phenomenon of frequency clustering in a network of Hodgkin-Huxley neurons with spike timing-dependent plasticity. The clustering leads to a splitting of a neural population into a few groups synchronized at different frequencies. In this regime, the amplitude of the mean field undergoes low-frequency modulations, which may contribute to the mechanism of the emergence of slow oscillations of neural activity observed in spectral power of local field potentials or electroencephalographic signals at high frequencies. In addition to numerical simulations of such multi-clusters, we investigate the mechanisms of the observed phenomena using the simplest case of two clusters. In particular, we propose a phenomenological model which describes the dynamics of two clusters taking into account the adaptation of coupling weights. We also determine the set of plasticity functions (update rules), which lead to multi-clustering.

In this study, we provide a dynamical systems perspective to the modelling of pathological states induced by tumors or infection. A unified disease model is established using the innate immune system as the reference point. We propose a two-layer network model for carcinogenesis and sepsis based upon the interaction of parenchymal cells and immune cells via cytokines, and the co-evolutionary dynamics of parenchymal, immune cells, and cytokines. Our aim is to show that the complex cellular cooperation between parenchyma and stroma (immune layer) in the physiological and pathological case can be qualitatively and functionally described by a simple paradigmatic model of phase oscillators. By this, we explain carcinogenesis, tumor progression, and sepsis by destabilization of the healthy homeostatic state (frequency synchronized), and emergence of a pathological state (desynchronized or multifrequency cluster). The coupled dynamics of parenchymal cells (metabolism) and nonspecific immune cells (reaction of innate immune system) are represented by nodes of a duplex layer. The cytokine interaction is modeled by adaptive coupling weights between the nodes representing the immune cells (with fast adaptation time scale) and the parenchymal cells (slow adaptation time scale) and between the pairs of parenchymal and immune cells in the duplex network (fixed bidirectional coupling). Thereby, carcinogenesis, organ dysfunction in sepsis, and recurrence risk can be described in a correct functional context.

In this article, we analyze a nonlocal ring network of adaptively coupled phase oscillators. We observe a variety of frequency-synchronized states such as phase-locked, multicluster and solitary states. For an important subclass of the phase-locked solutions, the rotating waves, we provide a rigorous stability analysis. This analysis shows a strong dependence of their stability on the coupling structure and the wavenumber which is a remarkable difference to an all-to-all coupled network. Despite the fact that solitary states have been observed in a plethora of dynamical systems, the mechanisms behind their emergence were largely unaddressed in the literature. Here, we show how solitary states emerge due to the adaptive feature of the network and classify several bifurcation scenarios in which these states are created and stabilized.