A unified quantification of synchrony in globally coupled populations with the Wiener order parameter

Abstract

We tackle the quantification of synchrony in globally coupled populations. Furthermore, we treat the problem of incomplete observations when the population mean field is unavailable, but only a small subset of units is observed. We introduce a new order parameter and demonstrate its efficiency for quantifying synchrony via monitoring general observables, regardless of whether the oscillations can be characterized in terms of the phases. Under condition of a significant irregularity in the dynamics of the coupled units, this order parameter provides a unified description of synchrony in populations of units of various complexity. The main examples include noise-induced oscillations, coupled strongly chaotic systems, and noisy periodic oscillations. Furthermore, we explore how this parameter works for the standard Kuramoto model of coupled regular phase oscillators. The most significant advantage of our approach is its ability to infer and quantify synchrony from the observation of a small percentage of the units and even from a single unit, provided the observations are sufficiently long.