Weak synchronization of chaotic coupled map lattices

Phase synchronized states can emerge in the collective behavior of an ensemble of chaotic coupled map lattices, due to a mean field interaction. This type of interaction is responsible for synchronized chaotic global activity of the lattices, while the local activity of each map remains unsynchronized. The resulting collective dynamics is called "weak synchronization." The transition to such a state is characterized in an ensemble of one-dimensional lattices of logistic maps, in terms of the distance in phase among the different lattices. Its robustness against a small difference in the map parameters is proved. We show that this phenomenon can be associated with pattern formation. [S0031-9007(98)07439-0].