Stability and multistability of synchronization in networks of coupled phase oscillators

Coupled phase oscillators usually achieve synchronization as the coupling strength among oscillators is increased beyond a critical value. The stability of synchronous state remains an open issue. In this paper, we study the stability of the synchronous state in coupled phase oscillators. It is found that numerical integration of differential equations of coupled phase oscillators with a finite time step may induce desynchronization at strong couplings. The mechanism behind this instability is that numerical accumulated errors in simulations may trigger the loss of stability of the synchronous state.Desynchronization critical couplings are found to increase and diverge as a power law with decreasing the integral time step. Theoretical analysis supports the local stability of the synchronized state. Globally the emergence of synchronous state depends on the initial conditions. Other metastable ordered states such as twisted states can coexist with the synchronous mode. These twisted states keep locally stable on a sparse network but lose their stability when the network becomes dense.

The Ott-Antonsen Ansatz in Globally Coupled Phase Oscillators

The Ott-Antonsen ansatz provides a powerful tool in investigating synchronization among coupled phase oscil- lators. However, previous works using the ansatz only focused on the evolution of the order parameter and the information on desynchronized oscillators is less discussed. In this work, we show that the Ott-Antonsen ansatz can also be applied to investigate the desynchronous dynamics in coupled phase oscillators. Studying the original Kuramoto model and two of its variants, we find that the dynamics of α（ω）, the coefficient in the Fourier series of the probability density, can give most of the information on the synchronization, for example, the threshold of natural frequency delimiting the oscillators synchronized and desychronized by the mean field, the formulation of the effective frequency ωe （ω） of desynchronous oscillators, and the structure of the graph ωe （ω）.

Effects of frustration on explosive synchronization

In this study, we consider the emergence of explosive synchronization in scale-free networks by considering the Kuramoto model of coupled phase oscillators. The natural frequencies of oscillators are assumed to be correlated with their degrees and frustration is included in the system. This assumption can enhance or delay the explosive transition to synchronization. Interestingly, a de-synchronization phenomenon occurs and the type of phase transition is also changed. Furthermore, we provide an analytical treatment based on a star graph, which resembles that obtained in scale-free networks. Finally, a self-consistent approach is implemented to study the de-synchronization regime. Our findings have important implications for controlling synchronization in complex networks because frustration is a controllable parameter in experiments and a discontinuous abrupt phase transition is always dangerous in engineering in the real world.

Dynamics of clustering patterns in the Kuramoto model with unidirectional coupling

We study the synchronization transition in the Kuramoto model by considering a unidirectional cou- pling with a chain structure. The microscopic clustering features are characterized in the system. We identify several clustering patterns for the long-time evolution of the effective frequencies and reveal the phase transition between them. Theoretically, the recursive approach is developed in order to ob- tain analytical insights; the essential bifurcation schemes of the clustering patterns are clarified and the phase diagram is illustrated in order to depict the various phase transitions of the system. Fur- thermore, these recursive theories can be extended to a larger system. Our theoretical analysis is in agreement with the numerical simulations and can aid in understanding the clustering patterns in the Kuramoto model with a general structure.