For networks of coupled dynamical systems we characterize admissible functions, that is, functions whose gradient is an admissible vector field. The schematic representation of a gradient network dynamical system is of an undirected cell graph, and we use tools from graph theory to deduce the general form of such functions, relating it to the topological structure of the graph defining the network. The coupling of pairs of dynamical systems cells is represented by edges of the graph, and from spectral graph theory we detect the existence and nature of equilibria of the gradient system from the critical points of the coupling function. In particular, we study fully synchronous and 2-state patterns of equilibria on regular graphs.These are two special types of equilibrium configurations for gradient networks. We also investigate equilibrium configurations of S1-invariant admissible functions on a ring of cells.
A coupled cell network is a model for many situations such as food webs in ecosystems, cellular metabolism, economical networks... It consists in a directed graph $G$, each node (or cell) representing an agent of the network and each directed arrow representing which agent acts on which one. It yields a system of differential equations $\dot x(t)=f(x(t))$, where the component $i$ of $f$ depends only on the cells $x_j(t)$ for which the arrow $j\rightarrow i$ exists in $G$. In this paper, we investigate the observation problems in coupled cell networks: can one deduce the behaviour of the whole …
We introduce a special subset of the graph of a homogeneous coupled cell network, called a projection block, and show that the network obtained from identifying this block to a single point can be used to understand the generic bifurcations of the original network. This technique is then used to describe the bifurcations in a generalized feed-forward network, in which the loop can contain more than one cell.
Dynamical systems with a coupled cell network structure can display synchronous solutions, spectral degeneracies and anomalous bifurcation behavior. We explain these phenomena here for homogeneous networks, by showing that every homogeneous network dynamical system admits a semigroup of hidden symmetries. The synchronous solutions lie in the symmetry spaces of this semigroup and the spectral degeneracies of the network are determined by its indecomposable representations. Under a condition on the semigroup representation, we prove that a one-parameter synchrony breaking steady state bifurcatio…
We analyse the dynamics of an array of $N^2$ identical cells coupled in the shape of a torus. Each cell is a 2-dimensional ordinary differential equation of FitzHugh-Nagumo type and the total system is $\mathbb{Z}_N\times\mathbb{Z}_N-$symmetric. The possible patterns of oscillation, compatible with the symmetry, are described. The types of patterns that effectively arise through Hopf bifurcation are shown to depend on the signs of the coupling constants, under conditions ensuring that the equations have only one equilibrium state.
We define a graph network to be a coupled cell network where there are only one type of cell and one type of symmetric coupling between the cells. For a difference-coupled vector field on a graph network system, all the cells have the same internal dynamics, and the coupling between cells is identical, symmetric, and depends only on the difference of the states of the interacting cells. We define four nested sets of difference-coupled vector fields by adding further restrictions on the internal dynamics and the coupling functions. These restrictions require that these functions preserve zero o…
Given a regular network (in which all cells have the same type and receive the same number of inputs and all arrows have the same type), we define the special Jordan subspaces to that network and we use these subspaces to study the synchrony phenomenon in the theory of coupled cell networks. To be more precise, we prove that the synchrony subspaces of a regular network are precisely the polydiagonals that are direct sums of special Jordan subspaces. We also show that special Jordan subspaces play a special role in the lattice structure of all synchrony subspace because every join-irreducible e…
We describe all possible structures of discrete vector field (discrete Morse functions) with minimal number of critical cells on the regular CW-complex for the 2-disk (1 cell), the 2-sphere (2 cells), the cylinder (2 cells) and Mobius band (2 cells).
A coupled cell network describes interacting (coupled) individual systems (cells). As in networks from real applications, coupled cell networks can represent inhomogeneous networks where different types of cells interact with each other in different ways, which can be represented graphically by different symbols, or abstractly by equivalence relations. Various synchronous behaviors, from full synchrony to partial synchrony, can be observed for a given network. Patterns of synchrony, which do not depend on specific dynamics of the network, but only on the network structure, are associated with …
We prove that steady state bifurcations in finite-dimensional dynamical systems that are symmetric with respect to a monoid representation generically occur along an absolutely indecomposable subrepresentation. This is stated as a conjecture in B. Rink and J. Sanders, "Coupled cell networks and their hidden symmetries", SIAM J. Math. Anal., 46 (2014). It is a generalization of the well-known fact that generic steady state bifurcations in equivariant dynamical systems occur along an absolutely irreducible subrepresentation if the symmetries form a group - finite or compact Lie. Our generalizati…
Coupled cell systems associated with a coupled cell network are determined by (smooth) vector fields that are consistent with the network structure. Here, we follow the formalisms of Stewart, Golubitsky and Pivato (Symmetry groupoids and patterns of synchrony in coupled cell networks, SIAM J. Appl. Dyn. Syst. 2 (4) (2003) 609--646), Golubistky, Stewart and Torok (Patterns of synchrony in coupled cell networks with multiple arrows, SIAM J. Appl. Dynam. Sys. 4 (1) (2005) 78--100) and Field (Combinatorial dynamics, Dynamical Systems 19 (2004) (3) 217--243). It is known that two non-isomorphic n-c…
Dynamical systems with a network structure can display anomalous bifurcations as a generic phenomenon. As an explanation for this it has been noted that homogeneous networks can be realized as quotient networks of so-called fundamental networks. The class of admissible vector fields for these fundamental networks is equal to the class of equivariant vector fields of the regular representation of a monoid. Using this insight, we set up a framework for center manifold reduction in fundamental networks and their quotients. We then use this machinery to explain the difference in generic bifurcatio…
We study molecular dynamics within populations of diffusively coupled cells under the assumption of fast diffusive exchange. As a technical tool, we propose conditions on boundedness and ultimate boundedness for systems with a singular perturbation, which extend the classical asymptotic stability results for singularly perturbed systems. Based on these results, we show that with common models of intracellular dynamics, the cell population is coordinated in the sense that all cells converge close to a common equilibrium point. We then study a more specific example of coupled cells which behave …
We consider coupled cell networks with asymmetric inputs and study their lattice of synchrony subspaces. For the particular case of 1-input regular coupled cell networks we describe the join-irreducible synchrony subspaces for their lattice of synchrony subspaces, first in terms of the eigenvectors and generalized eigenvectors that generate them, and then by giving a characterization of the possible patterns of the associated balanced colourings. The set of the join-irreducible synchrony subspaces is join-dense for the lattice, that is, the lattice can be obtained by sums of those join-irreduc…
In this work the existence of a global attractor for the solution semiflow of the coupled two-cell Brusselator model equations is proved. A grouping estimation method and a new decomposition approach are introduced to deal with the challenge in proving the absorbing property and the asymptotic compactness of this type of four-variable reaction-diffusion systems with cubic autocatalytic nonlinearity and with linear coupling. It is also proved that the Hausdorff dimension and the fractal dimension of the global attractor are finite.
We introduce the concept of a semigroup coupled cell network and show that the collection of semigroup network vector fields forms a Lie algebra. This implies that near a dynamical equilibrium the local normal form of a semigroup network is a semigroup network itself. Networks without the semigroup property will support normal forms with a more general network architecture, but these normal forms nevertheless possess the same symmetries and synchronous solutions as the original network. We explain how to compute Lie brackets and normal forms of coupled cell networks and we characterize the SN-…
We have considered the complexity and asymptotic stability in the process of biochemical substance exchange in a coupled ring of cells. We have used coupled maps to model this process. It includes the coupling parameter, cell affinity and environmental factor as master parameters of the model. We have introduced: (i) the Kolmogorov complexity spectrum and (ii) the Kolmogorov complexity spectrum highest value to analyze the dynamics of two cell model. The asymptotic stability of this dynamical system using an eigenvalue-based method has been considered. Using these complexity measures we have n…
This paper presents a framework based on matrices of monoids for the study of coupled cell networks. We formally prove within the proposed framework, that the set of results about invariant synchrony patterns for unweighted networks also holds for the weighted case. Moreover, the approach described allows us to reason about any multiedge and multiedge-type network as if it was single edge and single-edge-type. Several examples illustrate the concepts described. Additionally, an improvement of the coarsest invariant refinement algorithm to find balanced partitions is presented that exhibits a w…
We give an simple criterion for ODE equivalence in identical edge homogeneous coupled cell networks. This allows us to give a simple proof of Theorem 10.3 of Aquiar and Dias "Minimal Coupled Cell Networks", which characterizes minimal identical edge homogeneous coupled cell networks. Using our criterion we give a formula for counting homogeneous coupled cell networks up to ODE equivalence. Our criterion is purely graph theoretic and makes no explicit use of linear algebra.
We study the emergent dynamics of a network of synaptically coupled slow-fast oscillators. Synaptic coupling provides a network-level positive feedback mechanism that cooperates with cellular-level positive feedback to ignite in-phase network oscillations. Using analytical bifurcation analysis, we prove that the Perron-Frobenius eigenvector of the network adjacency matrix fully controls the oscillation pattern locally in a neighborhood of a Hopf bifurcation. Besides shifting the focus from the spectral properties of the network Laplacian matrix to the network adjacency matrix, we discuss other…
In this paper, we study pairs of oscillators that are indirectly coupled via active (excitable) cells. We introduce a scalar phase model for coupled oscillators and excitable cells. We first show that one excitable and one oscillatory cell will exhibit phase locking at a variety of $m:n$ patterns. We next introduce a second oscillatory cell and show that the only attractor is synchrony between the oscillators. We will also study the robustness to heterogeneity when excitable cell fires or is quiescent. We next examine the dynamics when the oscillators are coupled via two excitable cells. In th…
For a 2-D coupled PDE-ODE bulk-cell model, we investigate symmetry-breaking bifurcations that can emerge when two bulk diffusing species are coupled to two-component nonlinear intracellular reactions that are restricted to occur only within a disjoint collection of small circular compartments, or "cells", of a common small radius that are confined in a bounded 2-D domain. Outside of the union of these cells, the two bulk species with comparable diffusivities and bulk degradation rates diffuse and globally couple the spatially segregated intracellular reactions through Robin boundary conditions…
