Novel criteria of synchronization stability in complex networks with coupling delays

Complex networks are wide spread in the real world, arising in fields as disparate as sociology, physics and biology. The information spreading through a complex network is often associated with time delays due to the finite speeds of signal transmission over a distance. Hence, complex networks with coupling delays have gained increasing attention in various fields of science and engineering today. In this paper, based on the theory of asymptotic stability of linear time-delay systems, synchronization stability in complex dynamical networks with coupling delays is investigated, and we derive novel criteria of synchronization state for both delay-independent and delay-dependent stabilities. As illustrative examples, we use the networks with coupling delays and a given coupling scheme to test the theoretical results. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.