Synchronization of Short-Range Pulse-Coupled Oscillators

We explore systems of pulse-coupled oscillators beyond the mean-field limit [R.E. Mirollo and S.H. Strogatz, {SIAM J. Appl. Math.} {\bf 50}, 1645 (1990)] by means of a manageable description which leads to a great simplification of the dynamics. Sufficient conditions for synchronization are exactly obtained for a ring with nearest-neighbor directed interactions, turning out to be the same as in the all-to-all case. Our analysis shows new synchronization mechanisms occurring when the interactions are local.