
Faster network disruption from layered oscillatory dynamics
Melvyn Tyloo*1
1Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States of America
and Center for Nonlinear Studies (CNLS), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545,
United States of America
(*Electronic mail: mtyloo@lanl.gov.)
(Dated: 8 June 2023)
Nonlinear complex network-coupled systems typically have multiple stable equilibrium states. Following perturbations
or due to ambient noise, the system is pushed away from its initial equilibrium and, depending on the direction and
the amplitude of the excursion, might undergo a transition to another equilibrium. It was recently demonstrated [M.
Tyloo, J. Phys. Complex. 303LT01 (2022)], that layered complex networks may exhibit amplified fluctuations. Here I
investigate how noise with system-specific correlations impacts the first escape time of nonlinearly coupled oscillators.
Interestingly, I show that, not only the strong amplification of the fluctuations is a threat to the good functioning of the
network, but also the spatial and temporal correlations of the noise along the lowest-lying eigenmodes of the Laplacian
matrix. I analyze first escape times on synthetic networks and compare noise originating from layered dynamics, to
uncorrelated noise.
Complex networked systems are often made of different
layers of dynamics that somehow interact together. Due
to this intricate structure, noise or perturbations affect-
ing one layer are typically transferred to other layers with
additional statistical properties e.g. spatial and temporal
correlations. The latters might have serious consequences
on the desired functioning of some layers, one of them be-
ing the amplification of fluctuations.1Together with the
inherent multistability of nonlinearly coupled dynamical
systems, noise acting on one layer may be more prompt to
drive other layers outside their initial basin of attraction,
through a transition to another equilibrium, if such a state
exists. Here, I investigate how first escape times are af-
fected by noise propagating through a layered system and
compare it to uncorrelated noise.
I. INTRODUCTION
Various systems in nature and engineered applications can
be modelled as individual dynamical units, interacting with
one another in a complex way such as neurons spiking to-
gether in the brain2or rotating masses of power generators
evolving at the same frequency in large-scale transmission
networks.3Collective phenomena taking place in these sys-
tems such as synchronization, are enabled by both the inter-
nal dynamics and the interaction within the individual units.4
Another remarkable feature of such systems is multistabil-
ity. Thanks to nonlinearities in the interaction, numerous
equilibria might exist, each of them having their own basin
of attraction.5,6 Due to external perturbations such as envi-
ronmental noise or faults occurring at some components, the
whole system might undergo transitions between equilibrium
points. In many instances, this is not desirable as both the
transient dynamics and the new equilibirum might threaten
the correct operation of the system or even cause damages.7
An important task is to predict such transition as they could
disrupt the desired functioning state of the networked system.
The latter question has been investigated mostly in coupled
systems made of a single layer of interaction, usually sub-
jected to spatially uncorrelated noise.8–11 However, many ap-
plications require more involved coupling structures in order
to correctly describe them.12 A natural extension of the single
layer framework, is to include multiple layers of dynamical
systems.13,14 In such layered dynamics, noise acting on one
sub-network propagates to other layers with system-specific
correlations.1In other words, when going through a layer,
the noise acquire some specific statistical properties, which
is then injected into other layers. Including such system spe-
cific correlation in the noise might increase the level of fluctu-
ations and thus the risk of transitions between equilibria. This
is depicted in Fig. 1, where uncorrelated noise is acting on
the first layer [blue in panel (a)], which is then transmitted to
the second one [red in panel (a)]. In this setting, the second
layer is subjected to correlated noise, which we describe be-
low. Both layers are made of a single cycle network which has
multiple equilibira as illustrated in Fig. 1(b). Due to the noise
injected in both of them, the two layers are pushed away from
their initial equilibrium and, depending on the noise amplitude
and direction, eventually leave their initial basin of attraction.
Transitions between basins of attraction can be detected by
changes in the winding numbers in each layer q1and q2[see
Fig. 1(c)]. One clearly sees that, while the first layer do not
operate any transition, the second one exits its initial basin of
attraction multiple times. Similar transitions where observed
for a single layer system8,10 and related to the eigenvalues of
the network Laplacian matrix and the distance between the
initial fixed point and the closest saddle point with a single
unstable direction.11 Here I consider layered systems where
each layer has its own individual units, nonlinearly coupled
on a complex network. The different layers interact together
via a coupling function. It was recently shown that noise act-
ing on layer might be strongly amplified in the other layers
depending on the network connectivities.1Besides being am-
plified, the noise structure seems to align with the lowest-lying
eigenmodes of the network Laplacian. Building on these re-
sults, I investigate the first escape time from the initial basin
arXiv:2210.01180v3 [nlin.AO] 6 Jun 2023