Search

We analyze neuron-like excitability of a laser with coherent forcing beyond the phase model reduction. Contrary to this oversimplified picture, we find resonant and multipulse excitability, opening novel avenues for complex all-optical operations.

In this paper, we investigate various aspects of electro-magnetically induced transparency (EIT) that are associated with quantum interference. In the first half of this paper, we investigate two cascade schemes and demonstrate two possible absorption pathways in one, which leads to interference, and only one pathway in the other scheme, which does not exhibit EIT. In the second part of this paper, we demonstrate how EIT can be changed into enhanced absorption by changing the phase of either the coupling or probe fields.

We study a learning and recalling model of phase patterns in a two- or three-coupled BVP oscillators system with a time delay δ. The coupling strengths are modulated by the Hebbian learning rule. Assuming the first-order approximation, we calculate the optimal condition of δ for exact recall by applying the phase dynamics theory. When α = 0, where α represents the coupling from activator to inhibitor, the correlation between the learning and the retrieval phase depends on δ. When α = 1, exact recall is achieved independent of δ. The results can be explained by the phase dynamics theory.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was recorded to detect the 40 Hz component in auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) to Dau's chirp sound regularly repeated 40 times/s. The phase coherence of the 40 Hz component increased with the chirp intensity until the latter reached about 30 dB above its absolute hearing threshold and then saturated. We constructed a differential-equation model for the phase dynamics which showed similar behavior to the experimental result in terms of the phase coherence. One of the two parameters in the model was seen to be influenced by the stimulus intensity while the other seemed unaffected.

The melting of an ultrathin lubricant film is studied at friction between atomically flat surfaces. We take into account fluctuations of lubricant temperature, which are defined by the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Phase diagrams and portraits are calculated for second- and first-order transitions (the melting of an amorphous and that of a crystalline lubricants, respectively). It is shown that, in the former case, a stick-slip friction domain, separating the regions of dry and sliding friction, appears. In the latter case, three domains of stick-slip friction arise, which are characterized by the transitions between dry, metastable and stable sliding friction. The increase in the correlation time of lubricant temperature fluctuations leads to increasing in the rubbing-surface temperature needed for realization of sliding friction. The stationary states, corresponding to dry, stable and metastable sliding friction, are reached as a result of damped oscillations.

The melting of an ultrathin lubricant film at friction between atomically smooth surfaces is studied with allowance for fluctuations of its temperature, which are described by the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. The behavior of the most probable types of shear stresses arising in the lubricant is considered, and phase diagrams for second- and first-order phase transformations (the melting of an amorphous lubricant and that of a crystal- line lubricant, respectively) are constructed. It is shown that, in the former case, lubricant temperature fluctua- tions lead to the formation of a stick-slip friction domain separating the domains of dry and sliding friction, which is typical of first-order transitions. In the latter case, three domains of stick-slip friction arise, which mark the transitions between dry friction and metastable and stable sliding friction. As the time of correlation of lubricant temperature fluctuations gets longer, the temperature of rubbing surfaces rises to the point where sliding friction sets in.

One of the most sensitive methods for determining the presence and character of coupling between two oscillators is based on the modeling of their phase dynamics. This method is applicable if the observed oscillations are not synchronous and the length of available time series is no less than 50 characteristic periods. Now it is established that the method can be applied to still shorter time series with a length of 20 to 50 periods, provided that the estimated phase coherence coefficient (measuring the degree of synchronization) does not exceed a certain threshold dependent on the time series length and the frequency detuning. This result expands the possibilities of detecting the coupling between oscillatory systems under conditions of nonstationary signals and deficient data.

A method for the estimation of the Lyapunov exponent corresponding to enslaved phase dynamics from time series has been proposed. It is valid for both nonautonomous systems demonstrating periodic dynamics in the presence of noise and coupled chaotic oscillators and allows us to estimate precisely enough the value of this Lyapunov exponent in the supercritical region of the control parameters. The main results are illustrated with the help of the examples of the noised circle map, the nonautonomous Van der Pole oscillator in the presence of noise, and coupled chaotic Rössler systems.

We study control of synchronization in weakly coupled oscillator networks by using a phase reduction approach. Starting from a general class of limit cycle oscillators we derive a phase model, which shows that delayed feedback control changes effective coupling strengths and effective frequencies. We derive the analytical condition for critical control gain, where the phase dynamics of the oscillator becomes extremely sensitive to any perturbations. As a result the network can attain phase synchronization even if the natural interoscillatory couplings are small. In addition, we demonstrate that delayed feedback control can disrupt the coherent phase dynamic in synchronized networks. The validity of our results is illustrated on networks of diffusively coupled Stuart--Landau and FitzHugh--Nagumo models.

This study aims to decrease the gap between invasive high-resolution data acquisition and non-invasive measurement in the animal model under auditory stimuli. We approach this problem by analyzing the degree of shared information between the phase of local field potentials (LFPs) of auditory cortices and the phase of auditory evoked responses (AER) at different frequency domains. It has been extensively illustrated in previous studies that the phase of evoked responses align reliably in presence of a repetitive stimulus. Yet this implies that changes in the instantaneous phase over a series of stimulus presentations must also be mirrored in the laminar activity. To estimate the impact of laminar specific activity on the AER dynamics over a series of acoustic stimulation, we employ an information theoretic approach (mutual information) for quantifying the relevant information encoded in the phase of laminar LFPs and AERs.

A new method is proposed for the investigation of transitions from synchronous dynamics of coupled oscillators to asynchronous regimes attained upon synchronization breakage by a sequence of short phase resetting pulses. The possibility to use the proposed method for determining the coefficient of coupling between interacting systems from an analysis of the signals generated by these systems is considered.

The Pattern Informatics (PI) technique [Tiampo, K.F., Rundle, J.B., McGinnis, S., Gross, S., Klein, W., 2002. Mean-field threshold systems and phase dynamics: An application to earthquake fault systems, Europhys. Lett., 60, 481–487] is founded on the premise that changes in the seismicity rate are a proxy for changes in the underlying stress. This new approach to the study of seismicity quantifies its local and regional space–time patterns and identifies regions of local quiescence or activation. Here we use a modification of the PI method to quantify localized changes surrounding the epicenters of large earthquakes in California in an attempt to objectively quantify the rupture zones of these upcoming events. We show that this method can be used to forecast the size and magnitude of future earthquakes.

Based on a developed and experimentally tested model, self-oscillatory lasing regimes have been studied for a Class A four-frequency gas ring laser with linear coupling of elliptically polarized counter-propagating waves. In the self-oscillatory regime, switching of the intensities, polarization states, and phase differences of the counter-propagating waves is observed, and also a polarization-phase dynamics effect involving displacement of the intensity switching point (with respect to detuning), due to the phase shift as a result of an ellipticity different from zero.

The statistics of the instantaneous phase of oscillations in dynamic systems with a noisy limit cycle is compared to the statistics of the instantaneous phase of oscillations in dynamic systems with a spiral chaotic attractor. Simulation of the phase dynamics of chaotic self-sustained oscillations by a Wiener process is considered. The results provided by various methods of determination of the instantaneous phase are analyzed.

In the quasi-one-dimensional mixed-stack organic charge-transfer complex, TTF-CA, photoirradiation is known to trigger transitions between the neutral and ionic phases. Here we use a one-dimensional extended Peierls–Hubbard model with alternating potentials and calculate the mean-field dynamics of charge density coupled with that of lattice displacements. We show qualitative differences between the photoinduced ionic-to-neutral and neutral-to-ionic transitions, which are consistent with recent experimental findings. That is, the ionic-to-neutral transition proceeds cooperatively, characterized by threshold behavior, while the neutral-to-ionic transition proceeds uncooperatively, characterized by linear behavior. The threshold absorption in the former depends on the strength or the duration of the pulse. The coherence during the transition dynamics is also different between the two transitions. In the ionic-to-neutral transition, a clear interference effect is observed as a function of the interval when the pulse is spilt into two.

A vector equation of motion in the Lagrangian frame of reference is rearranged into a set of two scalar equations to determine the relative-velocity magnitude of a particle and its direction. The resulting system, written in terms of the Lame coefficients, is solved jointly with continuum equations of motion in the Eulerian frame of reference. The method is exemplified by the flow of a heterogeneous mixture between permeable parallel walls and the flow of a heterogeneous non-Newtonian fluid over the surface of a sedimentation centrifuge rotor.

For αβ>−1, stable time periodic solutions A(X,T)=AqeiqX+iωqT are the locally preferred planform for the complex Ginzburg–Landau equation ∂ T A=A+(1+iα)∂ X 2 A−(1+iβ)A|A| 2 . In order to describe the spatial global behavior, an evolution equation for the local wave number q can be derived formally. The local wave number q satisfies approximately a conservation law ∂τq=∂ξh(q). It is the purpose of this paper to explain the extent to which the conservation law is valid by proving estimates for this formal approximation.

A study of Hodgkin–Huxley (HH) neuron under external sinusoidal excited stimulus is presented in this paper. As is well known, the stimulus frequency is to be considered as a bifurcate parameter and numerous phenomena, such as synchronization, period and chaos appear alternatively with the changing of the stimulus frequency. For the stimulus frequency less than 2fB (fB being the base frequency in this paper), the simulation results demonstrate that the single HH neuron could completely convey the sinusoidal signal in anti-phase into interspike interval (ISI) sequences. We also report, perhaps for the first time, another kind of phenomenon, the beat phenomenon, which exists in the phase dynamics of the ISI sequences of the HH neuron stimulated by a sinusoidal current. It is shown furthermore that intermittent transition results in the general route to chaos.

Synchrony and antiphase phase locking in synaptically coupled neurons have been studied by employing numerical simulations. By using a Morris–Lecar (ML) model of two coupled stochastic neural oscillators, the effect of noise on the phase dynamics is extensively investigated in two different synaptic-coupling schemes; reciprocal excitatory and excitatory–inhibitory synapses. All possible dynamical features are presented in the parameter space of two important branching parameters, the coupling strength gsyn and the synaptic time delay τd. In this work, antiphase states are observed and analyzed as the breaking dynamics of synchrony. As a transition state from synchrony to antiphase phase locking in the stochastic system, intermittent antiphase states are also reported.

In this paper we extendthe results of Frankel andKiemel ( SIAM J. Appl. Math ,5 3 (1993), pp. 1436-1446) to a network of slowly coupledoscillators. First, we use Malkin's theorem to derive a canonical phase model that describes synchronization properties of a slowly coupled network. Then, we illustrate the result using slowly coupledoscillators (1) near And ronov-Hopf bifurcations, (2) near saddle-node on invariant circle bifurcations, and (3) near relaxation oscillations. We compare andcontrast synchronization properties of slowly andweakly coupledoscillators.

Multidimensional ultrafast spectroscopies are one of the premier tools to investigate condensed phase dynamics of biological, chemical and functional nanomaterial systems. As they reach maturity, the variety of frequency domains that can be explored has vastly increased, with experimental techniques capable of correlating excitation and emission frequencies from the terahertz through to the ultraviolet. Some of the most recent innovations also include extreme cross-peak spectroscopies that directly correlate the dynamics of electronic and vibrational states. This review article summarizes the key technological advances that have permitted these recent advances, and the insights gained from new multidimensional spectroscopic probes.

Soap froths as archetypal disordered cellular structures, exhibiting spatial and temporal evolution, have been predominantly studied in terms of their topological properties. Recently, constrained geometries in froth have attracted attention, since these arise both from existing or natural structure or, more usually, can be artificially configured. Using a direct simulation method, which retains detailed information on bubble (cell) mechanisms, we have investigated dynamics in 2D froths with various initial structures corresponding to controlled disorder. In particular, we examine the special case of a defect ring surrounding a central inclusion in a uniform froth, for different number of defects and ring radius. This geometry permits comparison with shell theory, as well as insight on dynamics of a virtual phase (as defined for persistence and non-equilibrium processes in general). It appears that defect location and pattern of inclusion in the virtual phase cause considerable variation in the evolutionary behaviour, leading to non-universal exponents for the phase dynamics. This is probably explained by the fact that the froth is still in the transient period over simulation time scales, rather than achieving the final stage of persistence. However, distinctive patterns of response can be identified for the different froth regions, despite system size limitations, with topological and other properties indicating that a quasi-equilibrium results.

Driven mean-field threshold systems demonstrate complex observable space-time patterns of behavior that are difficult to understand or predict without knowledge of the underlying dynamics, which are typically unobservable. Here we describe a new method based on phase dynamics techniques to analyze and forecast the space-time patterns of activity in these systems. Application to earthquake data from a typical, seismically active region shows that the method holds considerable promise for forecasting the temporal occurrence of the largest future events. We demonstrate the power of our technique via an application to the difficult problem of earthquake forecasting in southern California.

Transient phase dynamics, synchronization and desynchronization which are stimulus-locked (i.e. tightly time-locked to a repetitively administered stimulus) are studied in two coupled phase oscillators in the presence of noise. The presented method makes it possible to detect such processes in numerical and experimental signals. The time resolution is enormous, since it is only restricted by the sampling rate. Stochastic stimulus locking of the phases or the n:m phase difference at a particular time t relative to stimulus onset is defined by the presence of one or more prominent peaks in the cross-trial distribution of the phases or the n:m phase difference at time t relative to stimulus onset in an ensemble of post-stimulus responses. Unlike the presented approach, both triggered averaging (where an ensemble of post-stimulus responses is simply averaged) and cross-trial cross correlation (CTCC) lead to severe misinterpretations: The oscillators' coupling may cause a transient anti-phase clustering of the post-stimulus responses. Triggered averaging cannot distinguish such a response decorrelation from a mean amplitude decrease of the single responses. CTCC not only depends on the oscillators' phase difference but also on their phases and, thus, inevitably displays "artificial" oscillations that are not related to synchronization or desynchronization.

The ultrafast optically-heterodyne-detected optical Kerr effect (OHD-OKE) is established as a relatively simple tool for recording the ultrafast dynamics of liquids with high temporal resolution and excellent signal-to-noise ratios. The principles and practice of the OHD-OKE method are outlined. Its application in recording the dynamics of several molecular liquids is described. The data are discussed in terms of the underlying microscopic molecular motions. Orientational motion--both librational and diffusive--is responsible for a significant fraction of the dynamics. Other potential contributions are discussed, but these are less readily assigned. The application of OHD-OKE measurements in interpreting ultrafast studies of the optical dynamics of solutions is discussed. Finally the extension of OHD-OKE methods to record the dynamics of more complex, heterogeneous, media is described.

This paper proposes a new feed-forward control strategy for a plant with non-minimum phase dynamics. A Feed-Forward controller is very essential for controlling plants with time-varying reference signals. However, designing this type of controller is a non-trivial problem in case the plant dynamics is non-minimum-phase. This is because, this controller design involves the concept of inversion of the plant model and inverse of a non-minimum-phase plant model is unstable or non-causal. For this problem, usually an approximate inversion of a plant model is applied. An approach with corrected-approximate-inverse (CAI) method is available for feed forward controller design. After analyzing the results and discussion of this CAI technique, it is seen that although it seems to be working perfectly for small duration of time but its performance is unsatisfactory in case of large span of time. Therefore, in this paper, a new feed-forward control strategy has been designed to erase the above said problem. This method has adopted a simple version of an internal plant-model structure in its time domain. The fixed-structure feed forward controller that is constructed using this method is usually a linear amalgamation of a reference trajectory and its time-derivatives with suitable weighting factors. This control strategy has been verified with appropriate simulation results applied to a studied plant and results are compared with that of the CAI technique.

We construct a theory of dynamical behavior in intrinsic Josephson junction stacks with multigap superconducting layers. The theory predicts the existence of two kinds of phase modes, one of which is the Josephson-plasma mode and other of which is the Leggett’s mode. We discuss a cooperative phenomena induced by inter-band Josephson coupling in addition to capacitive and inductive couplings between the superconducting layers.

We demonstrate that E×B shear, V_{E×B}^{'}, governs the dynamics of the cross phase of the peeling-ballooning-(PB-)mode-driven heat flux, and so determines the evolution from the edge-localized (ELMy) H mode to the quiescent (Q) H mode. A physics-based scaling of the critical E×B shearing rate (V_{E×B,cr}^{'}) for accessing the QH mode is predicted. The ELMy H mode to the QH-mode evolution is shown to follow from the conversion from a phase locked state to a phase slip state. In the phase locked state, PB modes are pumped continuously, so bursts occur. In the slip state, the PB activity is a coherent oscillation. Stronger E×B shearing implies a higher phase slip frequency. This finding predicts a new state of cross phase dynamics and shows a new way to understand the physics mechanism for ELMy to the QH-mode evolution.

Chronotaxic systems represent deterministic nonautonomous oscillatory systems which are capable of resisting continuous external perturbations while having a complex time-dependent dynamics. Until their recent introduction in \emph{Phys. Rev. Lett.} \textbf{111}, 024101 (2013) chronotaxic systems had often been treated as stochastic, inappropriately, and the deterministic component had been ignored. While the previous work addressed the case of the decoupled amplitude and phase dynamics, in this paper we develop a generalized theory of chronotaxic systems where such decoupling is not required. The theory presented is based on the concept of a time-dependent point attractor or a driven steady state and on the contraction theory of dynamical systems. This simplifies the analysis of chronotaxic systems and makes possible the identification of chronotaxic systems with time-varying parameters. All types of chronotaxic dynamics are classified and their properties are discussed using the nonautonomous Poincar\'e oscillator as an example. We demonstrate that these types differ in their transient dynamics towards a driven steady state and according to their response to external perturbations. Various possible realizations of chronotaxic systems are discussed, including systems with temporal chronotaxicity and interacting chronotaxic systems., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures

We study theoretically the non linear polarization dynamics of Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers in the presence of an external cavity providing delayed optical feedback and cross polarization re-injection. We show that far from the laser threshold, the dynamics remains confined close to the equatorial plane of a Stokes sphere of a given radius and we reduce the dynamics to a dynamical system composed of two phases: the orientation phase of the quasi-linear polarization and the optical phase of the field. We explore the complex modal structure given by the double feedback configuration and recovers as particular cases the Lang-Kobayashi modes and the modes founds by Giudici et al. [1]. We also re-interpret the square waves switching dynamics as phase kinks.

Cerebral palsy (CP) includes a broad range of disorders, which can result in impairment of posture and movement control. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been proposed as assistive devices for individuals with CP. Better understanding of the neural processing underlying motor control in affected individuals could lead to more targeted BCI rehabilitation and treatment options. We have explored well-known neural correlates of movement, including event-related desynchronization (ERD), phase synchrony, and a recently-introduced measure of phase dynamics, in participants with CP and healthy control participants. Although present, significantly less ERD and phase locking were found in the group with CP. Additionally, inter-group differences in phase dynamics were also significant. Taken together these findings suggest that users with CP exhibit lower levels of motor cortex activation during motor imagery, as reflected in lower levels of ongoing mu suppression and less functional connectivity. These differences indicate that development of BCIs for individuals with CP may pose additional challenges beyond those faced in providing BCIs to healthy individuals.

We apply retrospective cost adaptive control (RCAC) to a linearized aircraft dynamics with an unknown transition to nonminimum-phase (NMP) dynamics. In prior work, RCAC was used for command-following with unknown NMP zeros. In this work we extend those results to command following for cases where the dynamics transition from minimum-phase to NMP. We use system identification techniques to identify the NMP zero, and use this information in RCAC. We consider both full-state feedback and output feedback, and in both cases we follow step commands with transitioning dynamics. We first consider the case where RCAC is unaware of the change and NMP zero identification is unavailable to RCAC. We then assume that NMP zero information is available to RCAC from system identification.

We derived the I-V characteristics of short nanowire in the circuit with and without resistive and inductive shunt. For that we used numerical calculations in the framework of time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations with different relaxation times for the amplitude and phase dynamics. We also derived dependence of the I-V characteristics on flux in superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) made of such two weak links., 5.4 pages and 7 figures

New types of stable discrete solitons are discovered. They represent the first example of asymmetric dark solitons and shock waves with a nonzero background. Both types of solutions exhibit a strong intrinsic phase dynamics. Their domains of existence and criteria of stability are identified. Numerical experiments support the analytical findings.

The theory of coupled phase oscillators provides a framework to understand the emergent properties of networks of neuronal oscillators. When the architecture of the network is dominated by short-range connections, the pattern of electrical output is predicted to correspond to traveling plane and rotating waves, in addition to synchronized output. We argue that this theory provides the foundation for understanding the traveling electrical waves that are observed across olfactory, visual, and visuomotor areas of cortex in a variety of species. The waves are typically present during periods outside of stimulation, while synchronous activity typically dominates in the presence of a strong stimulus. We suggest that the continuum of phase shifts during epochs with traveling waves provides a means to scan the incoming sensory stream for novel features. Experiments to test our theoretical approach are presented.

The formation of spatially repetitive structures along the growth axis of a developing embryo is a common theme in developmental biology. Here we apply the novel flow-distributed oscillator (FDO) mechanism of wave pattern formation to the problem of axial segmentation in general and to somitogenesis in particular. We argue that the conditions for formation of FDO waves are satisfied during somitogenesis in the chick and mouse and that the waves of gene expression observed in these species arise from phase dynamics in a growing oscillatory medium. We substantiate this claim by showing that the FDO mechanism allows the waves to be mimicked by an inorganic experiment and that it predicts a wavelength that coincides with that observed experimentally. To see whether the FDO mechanism is compatible with other aspects of somitogenesis, we construct an FDO-based model of somitogenesis and successfully test it against a number of experimental observations, including the effect of heat shock. Our analysis provides a rigorous physical basis for the hypothesis that the phase dynamics of a segmental clock controls important stages of segmentation during somitogenesis in the chick and mouse as well as in other organisms that undergo segmentation during their axial growth.

The simplified models of neural networks based on biophysical Hodgkin–Huxley neurons are studied with a focus on coherent-phase dynamics. In our approach, each neuron is considered as a nonlinear oscillator, and collective dynamics of a mesoscopic network of neural oscillators are studied using the methods of nonlinear dynamics. We explore the mechanisms for synchrony, clustering and their breakup in the synaptic parameter space and discuss implications to temporal aspects of neural-information processing.

We study the nonlinear phase equation for propagating patterns. We investigate the transition from a propagating localized pattern to a space-filling spatiotemporally disordered pattern and discuss in detail to what extent there are propagating localized states that breathe in time periodically, quasiperiodically, and chaotically. Differences and similarities to the phenomena occurring for the quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation are elucidated. We also discuss for which experimentally accessible systems one could observe the phenomena described.

Taking into account some philosophical notionson realism a reformulation of“macro-realism” according to Leggett-Garg isput forward. A macroscopic phase dynamics based on amicroscopic SQUID-model is discussed in this context.

A model is used to analyze the gain and phase dynamics of a semiconductor optical amplifier with a carrier reservoir (CR-SOA). Coupled rate equations are solved numerically. Due to the fast transition of carriers from the carrier reservoir layer to the active region, the CR-SOA is shown to have faster gain and phase response than a regular SOA. Increasing the injection current will also decrease the response times.

Based on neurophysiological evidence, studies modeling human locomotion system have shown that a bipedal walking is generated by mutual entrainments between the oscillatory activities of a central pattern generator (CPG) and a Body. The walking model could well reproduce human walking. However, it has been also shown that time delay in the sensorimotor loop destabilizes mutual entrainments, which leads a failure to walk. Recently, theoretical studies have discovered a phenomenon in which a CPG can induce the phase of its oscillatory activity to shift forward according to time delay. This self-organized phenomenon overcoming time delay is called “flexible-phase locking”. Then, theoretical studies have hypothesized that one of the essential mechanisms to yield of flexible-phase locking is a stable limit cycle of CPG activity. This study demonstrates the hypothesis in walking models through computer simulation by replacing the CPG model with the one having different oscillation properties.

A time dependent thermal model for a superconducting constriction based weak-link (WL) is discussed for investigating the deterministic dynamics of its temperature and phase. A new dynamic regime is found where a non-zero voltage exists across the WL and its temperature stabilizes between the bath temperature and superconductor's critical temperature. This regime exists over a limited bias current range and gives rise to a new hysteretic regime in current-voltage characteristics. We also discuss the effect of fluctuations on the current-voltage characteristics and experimental implications of this dynamic regime., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; revised on 25 Nov 2014

The objective of the present paper is the modeling and analysis of the dynamics of macrophages and certain growth factors in the inflammatory phase, the first one of the wound healing process. It is the phase where there exists a major difference between diabetic and non-diabetic wound healing, an effect that we will consider in this paper Supported by grants MTM2011-27739-C04-01 (Spain) and 2009SGR345 (Catalonia). Supported by FAPESP 2008/55516-3 and CAPES/DGU 238/11 (Brazil). Supported by grants MTM2011-27739-C04-03 (Spain) and 2009SGR345 (Catalonia)

We present a novel approach for recovery of the directional connectivity of a small oscillator network by means of the phase dynamics reconstruction from multivariate time series data. The main idea is to use a triplet analysis instead of the traditional pairwise one. Our technique reveals an effective phase connectivity which is generally not equivalent to a structural one. We demonstrate that by comparing the coupling functions from all possible triplets of oscillators, we are able to achieve in the reconstruction a good separation between existing and non-existing connections, and thus reliably reproduce the network structure.

We investigate the phase dynamics of moderately damped NbN/AlN/NbN Josephson junctions and we present experimental results on detailed aspects of phase diffusion processes. We measure both single escape and multiple escape and retrapping events obtaining a crossover temperature T* from Kramers to phase diffusion switching. We observe a clear dependence of the crossover temperature T* by the bias current ramp rate, while the damping factor Q remains the same. The measured effect is in strong agreement with theoretical predictions reported by Fenton and Warburton. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Collisions lead to the collapse and revival of the interference fringes between two atomic Bose–Einstein condensates. We study the collapses and revivals of the relative phase between the condensates for two different initial states. One state invokes Bose–broken symmetry allowing us to write the wavefunction as a superposition of total number (of both condensates) states whereas the other does not.