Globally Coupled Maps: Almost Analytical Treatment of Phase Transitions

Bifurcations in a system of coupled maps are investigated. Using symbolic dynamics it is proven that for coupled shift maps the well known space--time--mixing attractor becomes unstable at a critical coupling strength in favour of a synchronized state. For coupled non--hyperbolic maps analytical and numerical evidence is given that arbitrary small coupling changes the dynamical behaviour. The anomalous dependence of fluctuations on the system size is attributed to these bifurcations.