Synchronization of intermittently coupled dynamical networks

This paper investigates the synchronization phenomenon of an intermittently coupled dynamical network in which the coupling among nodes can occur only at discrete instants and the coupling configuration of the network is time varying. A model of intermittently coupled dynamical network consisting of identical nodes is introduced. Based on the stability theory for impulsive differential equations, some synchronization criteria for intermittently coupled dynamical networks are derived. The network synchronizability is shown to be related to the second largest and the smallest eigenvalues of the coupling matrix, the coupling strength, and the impulsive intervals. Using the chaotic Chua system and Lorenz system as nodes of a dynamical network for simulation, respectively, the theoretical results are verified and illustrated. © 2013 Gang Zhang and Guanrong Chen.