Effective mechanisms for the synchronization of stochastic oscillators

The emergence of synchronization is a phenomenon that is ubiquitous in a wide variety of natural systems. Such behavior is also often robust: systems subject to large stochastic fluctuations and which possess a range of internal time scales are capable of exhibiting sustained correlated dynamics. Here we study model chemical reactions and genetic networks that have stochastic oscillatory dynamics, and discuss microscopic mechanisms through which two or more such distinct stochastic processes can be coupled so as to result in the phase synchronization of their dynamical variables. We also consider the effect of time delay in the interaction and show that for suitable choices of the delay parameter, in-phase or antiphase synchronization can occur.