Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 
Volume 2005 (2005), Issue 3, Pages 337-342
doi:10.1155/DDNS.2005.337

Detecting synchronization in spatially extended discrete systems by complexity measurements

Juan R. Sánchez1 and Ricardo López-Ruiz2

 1Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Avenue J.B. Justo 4302, Mar del Plata 7600, Argentina
2Dansk Institut for Internationale Studier (DIIS) and BIFI, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza 50009, Spain
Received 9 December 2004

Abstract

The synchronization of two stochastically coupled one-dimensional cellular automata (CA) is analyzed. It is shown that the transition to synchronization is characterized by a dramatic increase of the statistical complexity of the patterns generated by the difference automaton. This singular behavior is verified to be present in several CA rules displaying complex behavior.