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We study a scalar delay differential equation (DDE) with two delayed feedback terms that depend linearly on the state. The associated constant-delay DDE, obtained by freezing the state dependence, is linear and without recurrent dynamics. With state-dependent delay terms, on the other hand, the DDE shows very complicated dynamics. To investigate this, we perform a bifurcation analysis of the system and present its bifurcation diagram in the plane of the two feedback strengths. It is organized by Hopf-Hopf bifurcation points that give rise to curves of torus bifurcation and associated two-frequency dynamics in the form of invariant tori and resonance tongues. We numerically determine the type of the Hopf-Hopf bifurcation points by computing the normal form on the center manifold; this requires the expansion of the functional defining the state-dependent DDE in a power series whose terms up to order three contain only constant delays. We implemented this expansion and the computation of the normal form coeffcients in Matlab using symbolic differentiation and the resulting code HHnfDDEsd is supplied as a supplement to this article. Numerical continuation of the torus bifurcation curves confirms the correctness of our normal form calculations. Moreover, it enables us to compute the curves of torus bifurcations more globally and to find associated curves of saddle-node bifurcations of periodic orbits that bound the resonance tongues. The tori themselves are computed and visualized in a three-dimensional projection, as well as the planar trace of a suitable Poincaré section. In particular, we compute periodic orbits on locked tori and their associated unstable manifolds (when there is a single unstable Floquet multiplier). This allows us to study transitions through resonance tongues and the breakup of a 1 : 4 locked torus. The work presented here demonstrates that state dependence alone is capable of generating a wealth of dynamical phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unstable periodic orbits occur naturally in many nonlinear dynamical systems. They can generally not be observed directly, but a number of control schemes have been suggested to stabilize them. One such scheme is that by Pyragas [Phys. Lett. A, 170 (1992), pp. 421-428], which uses time-delayed feedback to target a specific unstable periodic orbit of a given period and stabilize it. This paper considers the global effect of applying Pyragas control to a nonlinear dynamical system. Specifically, we consider the standard example of the subcritical Hopf normal form subject to Pyragas control, which is a delay differential equation (DDE) that models how a generic unstable periodic orbit is stabilized. Our aim is to study how this DDE model depends on its different parameters, including the phase of the feedback and the imaginary part of the cubic coefficient, over their entire ranges. We show that the delayed feedback control induces infinitely many curves of Hopf bifurcations, from which emanate infinitely many periodic orbits that, in turn, have further bifurcations. Moreover, we show that, in addition to the stabilized target periodic orbit, there are possibly infinitely many stable periodic orbits. We compactify the parameter plane to show how these Hopf bifurcation curves change when the 2π-periodic phase of the feedback is varied. In particular, the domain of stability of the target periodic orbit changes in this process, and, at certain parameter values, it disappears completely. Overall, we present a comprehensive global picture of the dynamics induced by Pyragas control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method of investigating quasi-static mechanisms is presented and applied to an overcenter mechanism and to a nose landing gear mechanism. The method uses static equilibrium equations along with equations describing the geometric constraints in the mechanism. In the spirit of bifurcation analysis, solutions to these steady-state equations are then continued numerically in parameters of interest. Results obtained from the bifurcation method agree with the equivalent results obtained from two overcenter mechanism dynamic models (one state-space and one multibody dynamic model), while a considerable computation time reduction is demonstrated with the overcenter mechanism. The analysis performed with the nose landing gear model demonstrates the flexibility of the continuation approach, allowing conventional model states to be used as continuation parameters without a need to reformulate the equations within the model. This flexibility, coupled with the computation time reductions, suggests that the bifurcation approach has potential for analyzing complex landing gear mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the geometry of slow manifolds of a dynamical system with one fast and two slow variables. Specifically, we study the dynamics near a folded-node singularity, which is known to give rise to so-called canard solutions. Geometrically, canards are intersection curves of two-dimensional attracting and repelling slow manifolds, and they are a key element of slow-fast dynamics. For example, canard solutions are associated with mixed-mode oscillations, where they organize regions with different numbers of small oscillations. We perform a numerical study of the geometry of two-dimensional slow manifolds in the normal form of a folded node in ℝ3. Namely, we view the part of a slow manifold that is of interest as a one-parameter family of orbit segments up to a suitable cross-section. Hence, it is the solution of a two-point boundary value problem, which we solve by numerical continuation with the package AUTO. The computed family of orbit segments is used to obtain a mesh representation of the manifold as a surface. With this approach we show how the attracting and repelling slow manifolds change in dependence on the eigenvalue ratio μ associated with the folded-node singularity. At μ = 1 two primary canards bifurcate and secondary canards are created at odd integer values of μ. We compute 24 secondary canards to investigate how they spiral more and more around one of the primary canards. The first sixteen secondary canards are continued in μ to obtain a numerical bifurcation diagram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We consider a multi-transverse-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) subject to optical feedback. The system is modeled by a partial differential equation for the spatial carrier population, which is coupled to delay differential equations for the electric fields of the participating transverse modes that are subject to external optical feedback. We consider here the case that the VCSEL supports the two basic, rotationally symmetric, linearly polarized optical modes LP01 and LP02. In our model each LP mode receives feedback not only from itself but also from the other LP mode; the amount of cross-feedback can be controlled by a parameter. Specifically, we use numerical continuation techniques to present a detailed analysis of the steady state, external cavity mode (ECM) structure in dependence on the feedback strength, the feedback phase and the amount of cross-feedback. This shows that the case of zero cross-feedback is degenerate and changes quite dramatically even in the presence of small feedback from the other transverse mode. On the other hand, in an intermediate range of cross-feedback the ECM structure does not change qualitatively in a physically relevant range of feedback strength. We consider the entire transition from zero cross-feedback to zero self-feedback, in which we identify the key changes in the ECM structure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a method that is able to continue periodic orbits in systems where only output of the evolution over a given time period is available, which is the typical situation in an experiment. The starting point of our paper is an analysis of time-delayed feedback control, a method to stabilize periodic orbits experimentally that is popular among physicists. We show that the well-known topological limitations of this method can be overcome by an embedding into a pseudo-arclength continuation and prove that embedded time-delayed feedback control is able to stabilize periodic orbits that have at most one unstable Floquet multiplier sufficiently close to the unit circle. In the second part we introduce preconditioning into the time-delayed feedback control. In this way, we extract a nonlinear system of equations from time profiles, which we solve using Newton iterations. We demonstrate the feasibility of our method by continuing periodic orbits in a laser model through folds, and by computing the family of canard orbits of the classical stiff Van der Pol system with constant forcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lorenz manifold is an intriguing two-dimensional surface that illustrates chaotic dynamics in the well-known Lorenz system. While it is not possible to find an explicit analytic expression for the Lorenz manifold, we have developed a method for calculating a numerical approximation that builds the surface up as successive geodesic level sets. The resulting mesh approximation can be read as crochet instructions, which means that we are able to generate a three-dimensional model of the Lorenz manifold. The crocheted model directly motivated us to investigate the curvature properties of the Lorenz manifold by means of determining an approximation to the Gaussian curvature from our geodesic mesh representation. We then translate this information to colour, which leads to a new visualization of the geometry of the Lorenz manifold. This colouring enhances the aesthetics of the visualization by revealing a striking pattern of regions of positive and negative Gaussian curvature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A method is presented for the automatic construction of an experimental bifurcation diagram of an optically injected solid state laser. From measured time series of laser output intensity, different identifiers of aspects of the dynamics are derived. Combinations of these identifiers are then used to characterize different possible bifurcations. The resulting experimental bifurcation diagram in the plane of injection strength versus detuning includes saddle-node, Hopf, period-doubling and torus bifurcations. It is shown to agree well with a theoretical bifurcation analysis of a corresponding rate equation model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We present the GLOBALIZEBVP algorithm for the computation of two-dimensional stable and unstable manifolds of a vector field. Specifically, we use the collocation routines of AUTO to solve boundary problems that are used during the computation to find the next approximate geodesic level set on the manifold. The resulting implementation is numerically very stable and well suited for systems with multiple time scales. This is illustrated with the test-case examples of the Lorenz and Chua systems, and with a slow–fast model of a somatotroph cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an algorithm for computing one-dimensional stable and unstable manifolds of saddle periodic orbits in a Poincaré section. The computation is set up as a boundary value problem by restricting both end points of orbit segments to the section. Starting from the periodic orbit itself, we use collocation routines from {\sc Auto} to continue the solutions of the boundary value problem such that one end point of the orbit segment varies along a part of the manifold that was already computed. In this way, the other end point of the orbit segment traces out a new piece of the manifold. As opposed to standard methods that use shooting to compute the Poincaré map as the kth return map, our approach defines the Poincaré map as the solution of a boundary value problem. This enables us to compute global manifolds through points where the flow is tangent to the section---a situation that is typically encountered unless one is dealing with a periodically forced system. Another major advantage of our approach is that it deals effectively with the problem of extreme sensitivity of the Poincaré map to its argument, which is a typical feature in the important class of slow-fast systems. We illustrate and test our algorithm by computing stable and unstable manifolds for three examples: the forced Van der Pol oscillator, a model of a semiconductor laser with optical injection, and a slow-fast chemical oscillator. All examples are accompanied by animations demonstrating how the manifolds grow during the computation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time dynamic substructuring is an experimental technique for testing the dynamic behaviour of complex structures. It involves creating a hybrid model of the entire structure by combining an experimental test piece-the substructure-with a numerical model describing the remainder of the system. The technique is useful when it is impractical to experimentally test the entire structure or complete numerical modelling is insufficient. In this paper, we focus on the influence of delay in the system, which is generally due to the inherent dynamics of the transfer systems (actuators) used for structural testing. This naturally gives rise to a delay differential equation (DDE) model of the substructured system. With the case of a substructured system consisting of a single mass-spring oscillator we demonstrate how a DDE model can be used to understand the influence of the response delay of the actuator. Specifically, we describe a number of methods for identifying the critical time delay above which the system becomes unstable. Because of the low damping in many large structures a typical situation is that a substructuring test would operate in an unstable region if additional techniques were not implemented in practice. We demonstrate with an adaptive delay compensation technique that the substructured mass-spring oscillator system can be stabilized successfully in an experiment. The approach of DDE modelling also allows us to determine the dependence of the critical delay on the parameters of the delay compensation scheme. Using this approach we develop an over-compensation scheme that will help ensure stable experimental testing from initiation to steady state operation. This technique is particularly suited to stiff structures or those with very low natural damping as regularly encountered in structural engineering. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pendulum can be stabilized in its upright position by proportional-plus-derivative (PD) feedback control only if the latency in the control loop is smaller than a certain critical delay. This critical delay is determined by the presence of a fully symmetric triple-zero eigenvalue singularity, a bifurcation of codimension three. We investigate three possible modifications of the PD scheme with the aim of extending the range of permissible delays. Effectively, these modifications introduce another parameter. This additional parameter can be used to continue the triple-zero singularity in four parameters until it gains a higher-order degeneracy imposing a new limit on the permissible delay. It turns out that the most effective modification is to feed back the value of the position with a small (intentional) additional delay on top of the control loop latency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many applications give rise to systems that can be described by maps that do not have a unique inverse. We consider here the case of a planar noninvertible map. Such a map folds the phase plane, so that there are regions with different numbers of preimages. The locus, where the number of preimages changes, is made up of so-called critical curves, that are defined as the images of the locus where the Jacobian is singular. A typical critical curve corresponds to a fold under the map, so that the number of preimages changes by two. We consider the question of how the stable set of a hyperbolic saddle of a planar noninvertible map changes when a parameter is varied. The stable set is the generalization of the stable manifold for the case of an invertible map. Owing to the changing number of preimages, the stable set of a noninvertible map may consist of finitely or even infinitely many disjoint branches. It is now possible to compute stable sets with the Search Circle algorithm that we developed recently. We take a bifurcation theory point of view and consider the two basic codimension-one interactions of the stable set with a critical curve, which we call the outer-fold and the inner-fold bifurcations. By taking into account how the stable set is organized globally, these two bifurcations allow one to classify the different possible changes to the structure of a basin of attraction that are reported in the literature. The fundamental difference between the stable set and the unstable manifold is discussed. The results are motivated and illustrated with a single example of a two-parameter family of planar noninvertible maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The computation of global invariant manifolds has seen renewed interest in recent years. We survey different approaches for computing a global stable or unstable manifold of a vector field, where we concentrate on the case of a two-dimensional manifold. All methods are illustrated with the same example — the two-dimensional stable manifold of the origin in the Lorenz system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an algorithm to compute the one-dimensional stable manifold of a saddle point for a planar map. In contrast to current standard techniques, here it is not necessary to know the inverse or approximate it, for example, by using Newton's method. Rather than using the inverse, the manifold is grown starting from the linear eigenspace near the saddle point by adding a point that maps back onto an earlier segment of the stable manifold. The performance of the algorithm is compared to other methods using an example in which the inverse map is known explicitly. The strength of our method is illustrated with examples of noninvertible maps, where the stable set may consist of many different pieces, and with a piecewise-smooth model of an interrupted cutting process. The algorithm has been implemented for use in the DsTool environment and is available for download with this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modeling and parameter estimation to capture the dynamics of physical systems are often challenging because many parameters can range over orders of magnitude and are difficult to measure experimentally. Moreover, selecting a suitable model complexity requires a sufficient understanding of the model's potential use, such as highlighting essential mechanisms underlying qualitative behavior or precisely quantifying realistic dynamics. We present an approach that can guide model development and tuning to achieve desired qualitative and quantitative solution properties. It relies on the presence of disparate time scales and employs techniques of separating the dynamics of fast and slow variables, which are well known in the analysis of qualitative solution features. We build on these methods to show how it is also possible to obtain quantitative solution features by imposing designed dynamics for the slow variables in the form of specified two-dimensional paths in a bifurcation-parameter landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyragas time-delayed feedback is a control scheme designed to stabilize unstable periodic orbits, which occur naturally in many nonlinear dynamical systems. It has been successfully implemented in a number of applications, including lasers and chemical systems. The control scheme targets a specific unstable periodic orbit by adding a feedback term with a delay chosen as the period of the unstable periodic orbit. However, in an experimental or industrial environment, obtaining the exact period or setting the delay equal to the exact period of the target periodic orbit may be difficult. This could be due to a number of factors, such as incomplete information on the system or the delay being set by inaccurate equipment. In this paper, we evaluate the effect of Pyragas control on the prototypical generic subcritical Hopf normal form when the delay is close to but not equal to the period of the target periodic orbit. Specifically, we consider two cases: first, a constant, and second, a linear approximation of the period. We compare these two cases to the case where the delay is set exactly to the target period, which serves as the benchmark case. For this comparison, we construct bifurcation diagrams and determine any regions where a stable periodic orbit close to the target is stabilized by the control scheme. In this way, we find that at least a linear approximation of the period is required for successful stabilization by Pyragas control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We study the spectral and dynamical behavior of two identical, mutually delay-coupled semiconductor lasers. We concentrate on the short coupling-time regime where the number of basic states of the system, the compound laser modes (CLMs), is small so that their individual behavior can be studied both experimentally and theoretically. As such it constitutes a prototype example of delay-coupled laser systems, which play an important role, e.g., in telecommunication. Specifically, for small spectral detuning we find several stable CLMs of the coupled system where both lasers lock onto a common frequency and emit continuous wave output. A bifurcation analysis of the CLMs in the full rate equation model with delay reveals the structure of stable and unstable CLMs. We find a characteristic bifurcation scenario as a function of the detuning and the coupling phase between the two lasers that explains experimentally observed multistabilities and mode jumps in the locking region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A study is made into the occurrence of shimmy oscillations in a dual-wheel main landing gear. Nonlinear equations of motion are developed for the system, and various effects are considered, including gyroscopic coupling, nonlinear tire properties, geometric nonlinearities, and fluid shock damping. Of particular interest in this study is the presence of freeplay: this is introduced as a lateral play at the apex of the torque link joints. Using bifurcation analysis methods, the dynamics of this system are explored as the forward velocity and loading force acting on the gear are varied. For the zero freeplay case, the system is found to be stable over its physical operating range with shimmy oscillations appearing only for extreme loading forces and speed. However, with the introduction of freeplay, shimmy may be observed over more typical operating conditions, and the resulting oscillations are found to scale linearly with freeplay magnitude. The parameter plane of forward velocity and loading force is then further subdivided into areas of different types of dynamics. With the inclusion of freeplay one observes the appearance of low-frequency and high- frequency shimmy oscillations, bistable behavior, and stationary solutions of nonzero yaw. Considering the desirable case in which no shimmy occurs, the set of allowable freeplay profiles that satisfy a conservative stability criteria is defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the first experimental observation of spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking (SSB) in coherently driven-dissipative coupled optical cavities. SSB is observed as the breaking of the spatial or mirror Z2 symmetry between two symmetrically pumped and evanescently coupled photonic crystal nanocavities, and manifests itself as random intensity localization in one of the two cavities. We show that, in a system featuring repulsive boson interactions (U>0), the observation of a pure pitchfork bifurcation requires negative photon hopping energies (J<0), which we have realized in our photonic crystal molecule. SSB is observed over a wide range of the two-dimensional parameter space of driving intensity and detuning, where we also find a region that exhibits bistable symmetric behavior. Our results pave the way for the experimental study of limit cycles and deterministic chaos arising from SSB, as well as the study of nonclassical photon correlations close to SSB transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microresonators are micron-scale optical systems that confine light using total internal reflection. These optical systems have gained interest in the past two decades due to their compact sizes, unprecedented measurement capabilities, and widespread applications. The increasingly high finesse (or Q factor) of such resonators means that nonlinear effects are unavoidable even for low power, making them attractive for nonlinear applications, including optical comb generation and second harmonic generation. In addition, light in these nonlinear resonators may exhibit chaotic behavior across wide parameter regions. Hence, it is necessary to understand how, where, and what types of such chaotic dynamics occur before they can be used in practical devices. We study here the underlying mathematical model that describes the interactions between the complex-valued electrical fields of two optical beams in a single-mode resonator with symmetric pumping. Recently, it was shown that this model exhibits a wide range of fascinating behaviors, including bistability, symmetry breaking, chaos, and self-switching oscillations. We employ here a dynamical system approach to perform a comprehensive theoretical study that allows us to identify, delimit, and explain the parameter regions where different behaviors can be observed. Specifically, we present a two-parameter bifurcation diagram that shows how (global) bifurcations organize the observable dynamics. Prominent features are curves of Shilnikov homoclinic bifurcations, which act as gluing bifurcations of pairs of periodic orbits or chaotic attractors, and a Belyakov transition point (where the stability of the homoclinic orbit changes). In this way, we identify and map out distinctive transitions between different kinds of chaotic self-switching behavior in this optical device.

We consider theoretically a driven-dissipative quantum many-body system consisting of an atomic ensemble in a single-mode optical cavity as described by the open Tavis-Cummings model. In this hybrid light-matter system, the interplay between coherent and dissipative processes leads to superradiant pulses with a buildup of strong correlations, even for systems comprising hundreds to thousands of particles. A central feature of the mean-field dynamics is a self-reversal of two spin degrees of freedom due to an underlying time-reversal symmetry, which is broken by quantum fluctuations. We demonstrate a quench protocol that can maintain highly non-Gaussian states over long timescales. This general mechanism offers interesting possibilities for the generation and control of complex fluctuation patterns, as suggested for the improvement of quantum sensing protocols for dissipative spin amplification.

We study different types of solitons of a generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation (GNLSE) that models optical pulses traveling down an optical waveguide with quadratic as well as quartic dispersion. A traveling-wave ansatz transforms this partial differential equation into a fourth-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODE) that is Hamiltonian and has two reversible symmetries. Homoclinic orbits of the ODE that connect the origin to itself represent solitons of the GNLSE, and this allows one to study the existence and organization of solitons with advanced numerical tools for the detection and continuation of connecting orbits. In this paper, we establish the existence of new types of connecting orbits, namely, PtoP connections from one periodic orbit to another. As we show, these global objects provide a general mechanism that generates additional families of two types of solitons in the GNLSE. First, we find generalized solitons with oscillating tails whose amplitude does not decay but reaches a nonzero limit. Second, PtoP connections in the zero energy level can be combined with EtoP connections from the origin to a selected periodic orbit to create multi-oscillation solitons; their characterizing property is to feature several episodes of different oscillations in between decaying tails. As is the case for solitons that were known previously, generalized solitons and multi-oscillation solitons are shown to be an integral part of the phenomenon of truncated homoclinic snaking., (© 2023 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Square-wave bursting is an activity pattern common to a variety of neuronal and endocrine cell models that has been linked to central pattern generation for respiration and other physiological functions. Many of the reduced mathematical models that exhibit square-wave bursting yield transitions to an alternative pseudo-plateau bursting pattern with small parameter changes. This susceptibility to activity change could represent a problematic feature in settings where the release events triggered by spike production are necessary for function. In this work, we analyze how model bursting and other activity patterns vary with changes in a timescale associated with the conductance of a fast inward current. Specifically, using numerical simulations and dynamical systems methods, such as fast-slow decomposition and bifurcation and phase-plane analysis, we demonstrate and explain how the presence of a slow negative feedback associated with a gradual reduction of a fast inward current in these models helps to maintain the presence of spikes within the active phases of bursts. Therefore, although such a negative feedback is not necessary for burst production, we find that its presence generates a robustness that may be important for function., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Excitability, encountered in numerous fields from biology to neurosciences and optics, is a general phenomenon characterized by an all-or-none response of a system to an external perturbation of a given strength. When subject to delayed feedback, excitable systems can sustain multistable pulsing regimes, which are either regular or irregular time sequences of pulses reappearing every delay time. Here, we investigate an excitable microlaser subject to delayed optical feedback and study the emergence of complex pulsing dynamics, including periodic, quasiperiodic, and irregular pulsing regimes. This work is motivated by experimental observations showing these different types of pulsing dynamics. A suitable mathematical model, written as a system of delay differential equations, is investigated through an in-depth bifurcation analysis. We demonstrate that resonance tongues play a key role in the emergence of complex dynamics, including non-equidistant periodic pulsing solutions and chaotic pulsing. The structure of resonance tongues is shown to depend very sensitively on the pump parameter. Successive saddle transitions of bounding saddle-node bifurcations constitute a merging process that results in unexpectedly large regions of locked dynamics, which subsequently disconnect from the relevant torus bifurcation curve; the existence of such unconnected regions of periodic pulsing is in excellent agreement with experimental observations. As we show, the transition to unconnected resonance regions is due to a general mechanism: the interaction of resonance tongues locally at an extremum of the rotation number on a torus bifurcation curve. We present and illustrate the two generic cases of disconnecting and disappearing resonance tongues. Moreover, we show how a pair of a maximum and a minimum of the rotation number appears naturally when two curves of torus bifurcation undergo a saddle transition (where they connect differently).

The initiation and regeneration of pulsatile activity is a ubiquitous feature observed in excitable systems with delayed feedback. Here, we demonstrate this phenomenon in a real biological cell. We establish a critical role of the delay resulting from the finite propagation speed of electrical impulses in the emergence of persistent multiple-spike patterns. We predict the coexistence of a number of such patterns in a mathematical model and use a biological cell subject to dynamic clamp to confirm our predictions in a living mammalian system. Given the general nature of our mathematical model and experimental system, we believe that our results capture key hallmarks of physiological excitability that are fundamental to information processing.

Excitable systems with delayed feedback are important in areas from biology to neuroscience and optics. They sustain multistable pulsing regimes with different numbers of equidistant pulses in the feedback loop. Experimentally and theoretically, we report on the pulse-timing symmetry breaking of these regimes in an optical system. A bifurcation analysis unveils that this originates in a resonance phenomenon and that symmetry-broken states are stable in large regions of the parameter space. These results have impact in photonics for, e.g., optical computing and versatile sources of optical pulses.

The early detection of tipping points, which describe a rapid departure from a stable state, is an important theoretical and practical challenge. Tipping points are most commonly associated with the disappearance of steady-state or periodic solutions at fold bifurcations. We discuss here multifrequency tipping (M tipping), which is tipping due to the disappearance of an attracting torus. M tipping is a generic phenomenon in systems with at least two intrinsic or external frequencies that can interact and, hence, is relevant to a wide variety of systems of interest. We show that the more complicated sequence of bifurcations involved in M tipping provides a possible consistent explanation for as yet unexplained behavior observed near tipping in climate models for the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. More generally, this Letter provides a path toward identifying possible early warning signs of tipping in multiple-frequency systems.

We consider the Yamada model for an excitable or self-pulsating laser with saturable absorber and study the effects of delayed optical self-feedback in the excitable case. More specifically, we are concerned with the generation of stable periodic pulse trains via repeated self-excitation after passage through the delayed feedback loop and their bifurcations. We show that onset and termination of such pulse trains correspond to the simultaneous bifurcation of countably many fold periodic orbits with infinite period in this delay differential equation. We employ numerical continuation and the concept of reappearance of periodic solutions to show that these bifurcations coincide with codimension-two points along families of connecting orbits and fold periodic orbits in a related advanced differential equation. These points include heteroclinic connections between steady states and homoclinic bifurcations with non-hyperbolic equilibria. Tracking these codimension-two points in parameter space reveals the critical parameter values for the existence of periodic pulse trains. We use the recently developed theory of temporal dissipative solitons to infer necessary conditions for the stability of such pulse trains.

Delay differential equations (DDEs) have been used successfully in the past to model climate systems at a conceptual level. An important aspect of these models is the existence of feedback loops that feature a delay time, usually associated with the time required to transport energy through the atmosphere and/or oceans across the globe. So far, such delays are generally assumed to be constant. Recent studies have demonstrated that even simple DDEs with non-constant delay times, which change depending on the state of the system, can produce surprisingly rich dynamical behaviour. Here, we present arguments for the state dependence of the delay in a DDE model for the El Niño Southern Oscillation phenomenon in the climate system. We then conduct a bifurcation analysis by means of continuation software to investigate the effect of state dependence in the delay on the observed dynamics of the system. More specifically, we show that the underlying delay-induced structure of resonance regions may change considerably in the presence of state dependence. This article is part of the theme issue 'Nonlinear dynamics of delay systems'.

We experimentally characterize the pulsing dynamics of a short all-fiber laser consisting of separate gain and absorber sections. Systematically varying the optical pump power for different lengths of the absorber section (ranging from 0.21 to 1.48 m) allows us to map out the qualitative behavior of the system. This identifies three main operational regions: nonlasing, stable Q-switching, and irregular pulsing. When interpreted in terms of the bifurcation structure of the Yamada model, the experimental results are in good qualitative agreement.

We report experimental and theoretical results on the pulse train dynamics in an excitable semiconductor microcavity laser with an integrated saturable absorber and delayed optical feedback. We show how short optical control pulses can trigger, erase, or retime regenerative pulse trains in the external cavity. Both repulsive and attractive interactions between pulses are observed, and are explained in terms of the internal dynamics of the carriers. A bifurcation analysis of a model consisting of a system of nonlinear delay differential equations shows that arbitrary sequences of coexisting pulse trains are very long transients towards weakly stable periodic solutions with equidistant pulses in the external cavity.

Many physiological phenomena have the property that some variables evolve much faster than others. For example, neuron models typically involve observable differences in time scales. The Hodgkin-Huxley model is well known for explaining the ionic mechanism that generates the action potential in the squid giant axon. Rubin and Wechselberger (Biol. Cybern. 97:5-32, 2007) nondimensionalized this model and obtained a singularly perturbed system with two fast, two slow variables, and an explicit time-scale ratio ε. The dynamics of this system are complex and feature periodic orbits with a series of action potentials separated by small-amplitude oscillations (SAOs); also referred to as mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs). The slow dynamics of this system are organized by two-dimensional locally invariant manifolds called slow manifolds which can be either attracting or of saddle type.In this paper, we introduce a general approach for computing two-dimensional saddle slow manifolds and their stable and unstable fast manifolds. We also develop a technique for detecting and continuing associated canard orbits, which arise from the interaction between attracting and saddle slow manifolds, and provide a mechanism for the organization of SAOs in [Formula: see text]. We first test our approach with an extended four-dimensional normal form of a folded node. Our results demonstrate that our computations give reliable approximations of slow manifolds and canard orbits of this model. Our computational approach is then utilized to investigate the role of saddle slow manifolds and associated canard orbits of the full Hodgkin-Huxley model in organizing MMOs and determining the firing rates of action potentials. For ε sufficiently large, canard orbits are arranged in pairs of twin canard orbits with the same number of SAOs. We illustrate how twin canard orbits partition the attracting slow manifold into a number of ribbons that play the role of sectors of rotations. The upshot is that we are able to unravel the geometry of slow manifolds and associated canard orbits without the need to reduce the model.

A fundamental challenge in mathematical modelling is to find a model that embodies the essential underlying physics of a system, while at the same time being simple enough to allow for mathematical analysis. Delay differential equations (DDEs) can often assist in this goal because, in some cases, only the delayed effects of complex processes need to be described and not the processes themselves. This is true for some climate systems, whose dynamics are driven in part by delayed feedback loops associated with transport times of mass or energy from one location of the globe to another. The infinite-dimensional nature of DDEs allows them to be sufficiently complex to reproduce realistic dynamics accurately with a small number of variables and parameters. In this paper, we review how DDEs have been used to model climate systems at a conceptual level. Most studies of DDE climate models have focused on gaining insights into either the global energy balance or the fundamental workings of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) system. For example, studies of DDEs have led to proposed mechanisms for the interannual oscillations in sea-surface temperature that is characteristic of ENSO, the irregular behaviour that makes ENSO difficult to forecast and the tendency of El Niño events to occur near Christmas. We also discuss the tools used to analyse such DDE models. In particular, the recent development of continuation software for DDEs makes it possible to explore large regions of parameter space in an efficient manner in order to provide a "global picture" of the possible dynamics. We also point out some directions for future research, including the incorporation of non-constant delays, which we believe could improve the descriptive power of DDE climate models.

Passively mode-locked semiconductor lasers are compact, inexpensive sources of short light pulses of high repetition rates. In this work, we investigate the dynamics and bifurcations arising in such a device under the influence of time delayed optical feedback. This laser system is modelled by a system of delay differential equations, which includes delay terms associated with the laser cavity and feedback loop. We make use of specialised path continuation software for delay differential equations to analyse the regime of short feedback delays. Specifically, we consider how the dynamics and bifurcations depend on the pump current of the laser, the feedback strength, and the feedback delay time. We show that an important role is played by resonances between the mode-locking frequencies and the feedback delay time. We find feedback-induced harmonic mode locking and show that a mismatch between the fundamental frequency of the laser and that of the feedback cavity can lead to multi-pulse or quasiperiodic dynamics. The quasiperiodic dynamics exhibit a slow modulation, on the time scale of the gain recovery rate, which results from a beating with the frequency introduced in the associated torus bifurcations and leads to gain competition between multiple pulse trains within the laser cavity. Our results also have implications for the case of large feedback delay times, where a complete bifurcation analysis is not practical. Namely, for increasing delay, there is an ever-increasing degree of multistability between mode-locked solutions due to the frequency pulling effect.

Bifurcation analysis is a powerful method for studying the steady-state nonlinear dynamics of systems. Software tools exist for the numerical continuation of steady-state solutions as parameters of the system are varied. These tools make it possible to generate 'maps of solutions' in an efficient way that provide valuable insight into the overall dynamic behaviour of a system and potentially to influence the design process. While this approach has been employed in the military aircraft control community to understand the effectiveness of controllers, the use of bifurcation analysis in the wider aircraft industry is yet limited. This paper reports progress on how bifurcation analysis can play a role as part of the design process for passenger aircraft., (© 2015 The Author(s).)

Invariant manifolds are key objects in describing how trajectories partition the phase spaces of a dynamical system. Examples include stable, unstable, and center manifolds of equilibria and periodic orbits, quasiperiodic invariant tori, and slow manifolds of systems with multiple timescales. Changes in these objects and their intersections with variation of system parameters give rise to global bifurcations. Bifurcation manifolds in the parameter spaces of multi-parameter families of dynamical systems also play a prominent role in dynamical systems theory. Much progress has been made in developing theory and computational methods for invariant manifolds during the past 25 years. This article highlights some of these achievements and remaining open problems.