Mittagsseminar (in cooperation with J. Lengler, A. Steger, and D. Steurer)

Date and Time: Thursday, November 13, 2025, 12:15 pm

Duration: 30 minutes

Location: OAT S15

Speaker: Hongjin Wu

Skeleton of Globally Synchronizing Graphs

Place n nodes on the unit circle and connect some pairs with springs that pull connected nodes toward each other. Which graphs always make all nodes converge to a single point, no matter how they start? This is known as the global synchronization problem of the Kuramoto model and is closely tied to the benign nonconvexity of its synchronization landscape. In this talk, I will demonstrate how this dynamical, continuous question can be reduced to a static, combinatorial one. I will show that certain inductively defined graph classes are globally synchronizing, based purely on a combinatorial analysis of unit vector configurations in the plane. This perspective reveals that global synchronization, despite being a collective phenomenon, unfolds on these graphs through a sequential process of local synchronization that propagates along their structural skeletons.

Upcoming talks     |     All previous talks     |     Talks by speaker     |     Upcoming talks in iCal format (beta version!)

Previous talks by year:   2025  2024  2023  2022  2021  2020  2019  2018  2017  2016  2015  2014  2013  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008  2007  2006  2005  2004  2003  2002  2001  2000  1999  1998  1997  1996  

Information for students and suggested topics for student talks

Automatic MiSe System Software Version 1.4803M   |   admin login