Abstract: The tendency to synchronize is one of the most ubiquitous and at the
same time mysterious drive in all of nature. In the introductory part of my talk, I will show
how the study of synchrony could deepen our understanding of not only certain aspects
enormous congregations of fireflies blinking on and off in complete unison, but also
the collectively synchronous behavior of 10^23 electrons in superconductors.
In the main part of my talk, I will discuss an example of spontaneous synchronization in
superconductors which are driven out of equilibrium by a sudden perturbation.
The particular focus of my talk will be on collective excitation of the amplitude (Schmidt-Higgs) mode
and how the dynamics of this mode changes in the presence of disorder. Finally, I will discuss
how the phenomenon of spontaneous synchronization in conventional
superconductors can be probed experimentally.