Synchronization Transition of Time Delayed Complex Dynamical Networks with Discontinuous Coupling

Abstract

This paper investigates the synchronization of time delayed complex dynamical networks with periodical on-off coupling. Both the theoretical and numerical results show that, in spite of time delays and on-off coupling, two networks may synchronize if the coupling strength and the on-off rate are large enough. It is shown that, for undirected and strongly connected networks, the upper bound of time delays for synchronization is a decreasing function of the absolute value of the minimum eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix. The theoretical analysis confirms the numerical results and provides a better understanding of the influence of time delays and on-off coupling on the synchronization transition. The influence of random delays on the synchronization is also discussed.