Frustrated synchronization in competing drive-response coupled chaotic systems

Chaotic systems can be synchronized by linking them to a common signal, subject to certain conditions. However, the presence of multiple driving signals coming from different systems, give rise to novel behavior. The particular case of Lorenz systems, with two independent systems driving another system through drive-response coupling has been studied in this paper. This is the simplest arrangement which shows the effect of ``frustrated synchronization’’ due to competition between the two driver systems. The resulting response system attractor deviates significantly from the conventional Lorenz attractor. A new measure of desynchronization is proposed, which shows a power-law scaling with the competition parameter.