Propensity criterion for networking in an array of coupled chaotic systems.
We examine the mutual synchronization of a one-dimensional chain of chaotic identical objects in the presence of a stimulus applied to the first site. We first describe the characteristics of the local elements, and then the process whereby a global nontrivial behavior emerges. A propensity criterion for networking is introduced, consisting in the coexistence within the attractor of a localized chaotic region, which displays high sensitivity to external stimuli, and an island of stability, which provides a reliable coupling signal to the neighbors in the chain. Based on this criterion, we compare homoclinic chaos, recently explored in lasers and conjectured to be typical of a single neuron, with Lorenz chaos.
Arecchi
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Department of Physics, University of Florence, Florence, Italy and Istituto Nazionale di Ottica Applicata, Largo E. Fermi, 6 I50125 Florence, Italy. areechi@ino.it
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