Communication and Synchronization in Disconnected Networks with Dynamic Topology: Moving Neighborhood Networks

Abstract

We consider systems that are well modelled as a networks that evolve in time, which we call {\it Moving Neighborhood Networks}. These models are relevant in studying cooperative behavior of swarms and other phenomena where emergent interactions arise from ad hoc networks. In a natural way, the time-averaged degree distribution gives rise to a scale-free network. Simulations show that although the network may have many noncommunicating components, the time-averaged communication is sufficient to yield robust synchronization of chaotic oscillators.