Looking at map networks with time delay interactions from a local perspective

The evolution of networks of coupled chaotic maps with delayed interactions can be studied in the usual way by analyzing the evolution of the state of elements at each iteration time (the "Simulator" point of view), or it can be analyzed from the point of view of a single element (the "Observer" perspective) that is receiving delayed information from the other elements in the system. In the usual "Simulator" timeframe, an absolute time (i.e., the number of iterations t) is adopted to define the system state at each time t. In the "Observer" framework, the state of an element in the system is given by its state at the "Simulator" time t - tau, where tau is the information travel time between that element and the Observer. We emphasize the convenience of the analysis of the system dynamics in the "Observer" timeframe by showing that the "Observer" dynamics differs substantially from the one in the "Simulator" timeframe, and that the system dynamics in the "Observer" timeframe reflects the proper causality of the interactions among the elements. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.