Hub-Induced Synchronization in Scale-Free Networks with Cluster Structure

Abstract

A recent research indicated that the corticocortical connectivity network of the cat possesses cluster structure and that each cluster in the network is scale-free and has a most connected hub. Motivated by that research, we slightly modify the network model and derive sufficient conditions for cluster synchronization of the modified network based on Lyapunov function method. The obtained results indicate that cluster synchronization can be induced by the hubs of the scale-free networks. In our opinion, the concept of hub-induced synchronization provides a better understanding of cluster synchronization in scale-free networks. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.