About this Research Topic
This Research Topic is developed in collaboration with the "Critical transitions and partial synchronization in networks" Minisymposium at Dynamics Days Europe 2023.
Nonequilibrium phase transitions and critical behavior have recently become a focus of research in dynamical networks. Synchronization transitions of various kinds may arise, giving birth to a plethora of partial synchronization patterns and complex collective behavior, tipping transitions, noise-induced transitions, early warning signals, explosive synchronization, nucleation, critical slowing down, etc.
Furthermore, networks in nature often consist of several interacting subnetworks, the brain being the most complex and intriguing example. For communicating brain areas neither complete synchronization nor complete desynchronization would allow for a proper function. Instead, some partial synchronization is essential not only within areas but also across areas. Thus, the analysis and modelling of neuronal oscillations and synchronization, which reflect the communication within and across different brain areas, is key in advancing our understanding of the brain.
Applications for the aforementioned topics can be found in many natural, socioeconomic, and technological systems. The goal of this Research Topic is to open further our understanding of synchronization and phase transitions in networks, with applications across the fields of physiology, neuroscience, applied mathematics, and epidemiology. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
• The role of neuronal oscillations and synchronization for cognitive processes such as information routing and the physiological process of sleep
• The role of network topology in basic models of sleep regulation
• The impact of spike-frequency adaptation on neuronal oscillations and synchrony
• Recent advances on chimera states, which are paradigmatic for the coexistence of synchronization and desynchronization
• First and second order phase transitions, explosive synchronization, and nucleation phenomena in synchronization transitions
• Noise-induced critical transitions
• Growing and breaking networks
• Studies of multilayer networks and networks composed of interacting subnetworks
Nonequilibrium phase transitions and critical behavior have recently become a focus of research in dynamical networks. Synchronization transitions of various kinds may arise, giving birth to a plethora of partial synchronization patterns and complex collective behavior, tipping transitions, noise-induced transitions, early warning signals, explosive synchronization, nucleation, critical slowing down, etc.
Furthermore, networks in nature often consist of several interacting subnetworks, the brain being the most complex and intriguing example. For communicating brain areas neither complete synchronization nor complete desynchronization would allow for a proper function. Instead, some partial synchronization is essential not only within areas but also across areas. Thus, the analysis and modelling of neuronal oscillations and synchronization, which reflect the communication within and across different brain areas, is key in advancing our understanding of the brain.
Applications for the aforementioned topics can be found in many natural, socioeconomic, and technological systems. The goal of this Research Topic is to open further our understanding of synchronization and phase transitions in networks, with applications across the fields of physiology, neuroscience, applied mathematics, and epidemiology. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
• The role of neuronal oscillations and synchronization for cognitive processes such as information routing and the physiological process of sleep
• The role of network topology in basic models of sleep regulation
• The impact of spike-frequency adaptation on neuronal oscillations and synchrony
• Recent advances on chimera states, which are paradigmatic for the coexistence of synchronization and desynchronization
• First and second order phase transitions, explosive synchronization, and nucleation phenomena in synchronization transitions
• Noise-induced critical transitions
• Growing and breaking networks
• Studies of multilayer networks and networks composed of interacting subnetworks
Keywords: Critical transitions, partial synchronization, networks, brain, neuronal oscillations, network topology, spike frequency, chimera states, multilayer networks, network physiology
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
