Phase and amplitude dynamics of coupled oscillator systems on complex networks

TL;DR

This paper explores how inhomogeneous coupling and shifts in coupling functions influence phase and amplitude dynamics in coupled oscillator networks, revealing diverse locking behaviors and implications for information flow.

Contribution

It provides a mean-field analytical framework for understanding how coupling variations affect oscillator dynamics on complex networks, supported by numerical simulations.

Findings

Coupling strength distribution affects phase locking patterns.

High-degree nodes can lead or lag in phase depending on coupling shifts.

Amplitude dynamics contribute to diverse network behaviors.

Abstract

We investigated the locking behaviors of coupled limit-cycle oscillators with phase and amplitude dynamics. We focused on how the dynamics are affected by inhomogeneous coupling strength and by angular and radial shifts in the coupling function. We performed mean-field analyses of oscillator systems with inhomogeneous coupling strength, testing Gaussian, power-law, and brain-like degree distributions. Even for oscillators with identical intrinsic frequencies and intrinsic amplitudes, we found that the coupling strength distribution and coupling function generated a wide repertoire of phase and amplitude dynamics. These included fully and partially locked states in which high-degree or low-degree nodes would phase-lead the network. The mean-field analytical findings were confirmed via numerical simulations. The results suggest that, in oscillator systems in which individual nodes can independently vary their amplitude over time, qualitatively different dynamics can be produced via shifts in the coupling strength distribution and the coupling form. Of particular relevance to information flows in oscillator networks, changes in the non-specific drive to individual nodes can make high-degree nodes phase-lag or phase-lead the rest of the network.