title: Adding connections can hinder network synchronization of time-delayed oscillators.
abstract: We provide experimental evidence that adding links to a network's structure can hinder synchronization. Our experiments and theoretical analysis of networks of time-delayed optoelectronic oscillators uncover the scenario of loss of identical synchronization upon connectivity modifications. This counterintuitive loss of synchronization can occur even when the network structure is improved from a connectivity perspective. Utilizing a master stability function approach, we show that a time delay in the coupling of nodes plays a crucial role in determining a network's synchronization properties and that this effect is more prominent in directed networks than in undirected networks, especially for large networks. Our results provide insight into the impact of structural modifications in networks with equal coupling delays and open the path to design changes to the network connectivity to sustain and control the performance of real-world networks.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.affiliation: Institude of Mathematics, Humboldt University of Berlin, Unter der Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan Philipp
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Pade
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.|Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação, Universidade de São Paulo, 13560-970 São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Rajarshi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roy