Synchronization transition in scale-free networks: clusters of synchrony.

ABSTRACT

We study the synchronization transition in scale-free networks that display power-law asymptotic behaviors in their degree distributions. The critical coupling strength and the order-parameter critical exponent derived by the mean-field approach depend on the degree exponent lambda, which implies a close connection between structural organization and the emergence of dynamical order in complex systems. We also derive the finite-size scaling behavior of the order parameter, finding that the giant cluster of synchronized nodes is formed in different ways between scale-free networks with 2 < lambda < 3 and those with lambda > 3.