Abstract
Pinning synchronization of a networked multi-agent system with a directed communication topology is investigated from a spectral analysis approach. Some new types of synchronized regions for networked systems with different nonlinear agent dynamics and inner coupling structures are discovered. The eigenvalue distributions of the coupling and control matrices for different types of directed networks are obtained. The effects of the network topology, pinning density and pinning strength on the network synchronizability are examined through extensive numerical simulations. It is shown that the synchronizability of the pinned network can be effectively improved by increasing pinning density and pinning strength for some types of synchronized regions, whereas too large the pinning density and pinning strength will lead to desynchronization for other types. It is found that directed random networks are not always easier to synchronize than directed small-world networks, and a denser eigenvalue distribution may not always imply better synchronizability.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61104151, 61104018, 61473240), the Science Foundation of Fujian Province (No. 2012J01289), and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council under the GRF Grant CityU 1120/14.
Linying XIANG received her Ph.D. degree in Control Theory and Control Engineering from Nankai University, Tianjin, China, in 2008. From November 2008 to October 2010, she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the City University of Hong Kong. From March 2013 to June 2013, she was a Senior Research Assistant with the Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Since November 2010, she has been with the Department of Automation, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China, where she is currently an Associate Professor. Dr. Xiang was a Program Committee Member of Asian Control Conference and Chinese Conference of Complex Networks. Dr. Xiang’s research interests are in the area of synchronization and control of complex networks, coordinated control of multi-agent systems.
Fei CHEN received his Ph.D. degree in Control Theory and Control Engineering from Nankai University, Tianjin, China, in 2009. From October 2008 to January 2009, he was a Research Assistant with the Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. From August 2009 to August 2010, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, UT. From March 2013 to June 2013, he was a Senior Research Associate with the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Since November 2010, he has been with the Department of Automation, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China, where he is currently an Associate Professor. Dr. Chen was a Program Committee Member of Asian Control Conference and Chinese Conference of Complex Networks. He was a recipient of the Award for New Century Excellent Talents in Fujian Province University and a recipient of the Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation Award from Nankai University. Dr. Chen’s research interests are in the area of systems and control, multi-agent networks, and non-smooth analysis.
Guanrong CHEN has been a Chair Professor and the Director of the Centre for Chaos and Complex Networks at the City University of Hong Kong since year 2000, prior to which he was a Tenured Full Professor at the University of Houston, Texas, USA. He was elected IEEE Fellow in 1997, awarded the 2011 Euler Gold Medal, Russia, and conferred Honorary Doctorate by the Saint Petersburg State University, Russia in 2011 and by the University of Le Havre, France in 2014. He is a member of the Academia Europaea.
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Xiang, L., Chen, F. & Chen, G. Pinning synchronization of networked multi-agent systems: spectral analysis. Control Theory Technol. 13, 45–54 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11768-015-4033-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11768-015-4033-6