Zheng Zhi-Gang

Phase Synchronization of Coupled Rossler Oscillators: Amplitude Effect

Phase synchronization of two linearly coupled Rossler oscillators with parameter misfits is explored. It is found that depending on parameter mismatches, the synchronization of phases exhibits different manners. The synchronization regime can be divided into three regimes. For small mismatches, the amplitude-insensitive regime gives the phase-dominant synchronization; When the parameter misfit increases, the amplitudes and phases of oscillators are correlated, and the amplitudes will dominate the synchronous dynamics for very large mismatches. The lag time among phases exhibits a power law when phase synchronization is achieved.

Synchronized Firing in Coupled Inhomogeneous Excitable Neurons

We study the firing synchronization behavior of the inhomogeneous excitable media. Phase synchronization of neuron firings is observed with increasing the coupling, while the phases of neurons are different (out-of-phase synchronization). We found the synchronization of bursts can be greatly enhanced by applying an external forcing (in-phase synchronization). The external forcing can be either a periodic or just homogeneous thermal noise. The mechanism responsible for this enhancement is discussed.

FRUSTRATION EFFECT ON SYNCHRONIZATION AND CHAOS IN COUPLED OSCILLATORS

Synchronization dynamics in an array of coupled periodic oscillators with quenched natural frequencies are discussed in the presence of homogeneous phase shifts (frustrations). Frustration-induced desynchronization and chaos are found. The torus-doubling route to chaos, toroidal chaos and torus crisis are investigated.

Directed transport of coupled Brownian ratchets with time-delayed feedback

A time-delayed feedback ratchet consisting of two Brownian particles interacting through the elastic spring is considered. The model describes the directed transport of coupled Brownian particles in an asymmetric two-well ratchet potential which can be calculated theoretically and implemented experimentally. We explore how the centre-of-mass velocity is affected by the time delay, natural length of the spring, amplitude strength, angular frequency, external force, and the structure of the potential. It is found that the enhancement of the current can be obtained by varying the coupling strength of the delayed feedback system. When the thermal fluctuation and the harmonic potential match appropriately, directed current evolves periodically with the natural length of the spring and can achieve a higher transport coherence. Moreover, the external force and the amplitude strength can enhance the directed transport of coupled Brownian particles under certain conditions. It is expected that the polymer of large biological molecules may demonstrate a variety of novel cooperative effects in real propelling devices.

Frequency-Locking in Coupled Chaotic Systems*

A novel approach is presented for measuring the phase synchronization (frequency-locking) of coupled nonidentical oscillators, which can characterize frequency-locking for chaotic systems without well-defined phase by measuring the mean frequency. Numerical simulations confirm the existence of frequency-locking. The relations between the mean frequency and the coupling strength and the frequency mismatch are given. For the coupled hyperchaotic systems, the frequency-locking can be better characterized by more than one mean frequency curves.

Nonequilibrium thermodynamics and fluctuation relations for small systems

In this review, we give a retrospect of the recent progress in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and thermodynamics in small dynamical systems. For systems with only a few number of particles, fluctuations and nonlinearity become significant and contribute to the nonequilibrium behaviors of the systems, hence the statistical properties and thermodynamics should be carefully studied. We review recent developments of this topic by starting from the Gallavotti—Cohen fluctuation theorem, and then to the Evans—Searles transient fluctuation theorem, Jarzynski free-energy equality, and the Crooks fluctuation relation. We also investigate the nonequilibrium free energy theorem for trajectories involving changes of the heat bath temperature and propose a generalized free-energy relation. It should be noticed that the non-Markovian property of the heat bath may lead to the violation of the free-energy relation.

Four-cluster chimera state in non-locally coupled phase oscillator systems with an external potential

Dynamics of a one-dimensional array of non-locally coupled Kuramoto phase oscillators with an external potential is studied. A four-cluster chimera state is observed for the moderate strength of the external potential. Different from the clustered chimera states studied before, the instantaneous frequencies of the oscillators in a synchronized cluster are different in the presence of the external potential. As the strength of the external potential increases, a bifurcation from the two-cluster chimera state to the four-cluster chimera states can be found. These phenomena are well predicted analytically with the help of the Ott—Antonsen ansatz.

Multiple attractors and generalized synchronization in delayed Mackey–Glass systems

Nonlinear dynamics of the time-delayed Mackey–Glass systems is explored. Coexistent multiple chaotic attractors are found. Attractors with double-scroll structures can be well classified in terms of different return times within one period of the delay time by constructing the Poincare section. Synchronizations of the drive–response Mackey–Glass oscillators are investigated. The critical coupling strength for the emergence of generalized synchronization against the delay time exhibits the interesting resonant behaviour. We reveal that stronger resonance effect may be observed when different attractors are applied to the drivers, i.e., more resonance peaks can be found.

Nonlinear Dynamics of a Sliding Chain in a Periodic Potential

Nonlinear dynamics of the sliding process of a chain driven with a constant velocity at one end in a periodic substrate potential is investigated. The driven chain exhibits distinctly different dynamical characteristics at different velocities. In the low velocity region, the chain moves in a stick–slip manner. When the driving velocity is increased, the stick–slip behaviour is replaced by complicated and regular oscillatory motions. The dependence of the dynamics on the coupling strength is studied and the step-like behaviour is found, where different steps correspond to different dynamical phases.

Directed Transport of Interacting Particle Systems: Recent Progress

Recent developments in studies of directed transport processes in interacting particle systems are retrospected. Due to the interactions among elements, the directed transport process exhibits complicated and novel cooperative dynamics. We considered various possibilities in achieving ratchet motion by breaking different symmetries of many-body systems. It is shown that the directional transport can even be induced by breaking the coupling symmetry and the spatiotemporal symmetries.