Synchronization in Networks of Heterogeneous Kuramoto-Sakaguchi Oscillators with Higher-order Interactions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how phase frustration, noise, and higher-order interactions influence synchronization in heterogeneous Kuramoto-Sakaguchi oscillator networks, revealing complex bistability phenomena and providing a theoretical framework for understanding these effects.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of synchronization in networks with both pairwise and higher-order interactions, incorporating noise and phase frustration, and employs the Ott-Antonsen reduction for theoretical insights.

Findings

Higher-order interactions significantly widen the bistable region.

Noise destabilizes coexistence states and reduces bistability.

The Ott-Antonsen reduction accurately predicts critical points and bistable region width.

Abstract

How do the combined effects of phase frustration, noise, and higher-order interactions govern synchronization in globally coupled heterogeneous Kuramoto oscillators? To address this question, we investigate a globally coupled network of Kuramoto-Sakaguchi oscillators that includes both pairwise (1-simplex) and higher-order (2-simplex) interactions, together with additive stochastic forcing. Systematic numerical simulations across a broad range of coupling strengths, phase-lag values, and noise intensities reveal that synchronization emerges through a nontrivial interplay among these parameters. In general, weak frustration combined with mutually reinforcing coupling promotes synchronization, whereas strong frustration favors coherence under repulsive coupling. Forward and backward parameter sweeps reveal the coexistence of synchronized and desynchronized states. The presence and width of this bistable region depend sensitively on phase frustration, noise intensity, and higher-order coupling strength, with higher-order interactions significantly widening the bistable interval. To explain these behaviors, we employ the Ott-Antonsen reduction to derive a low-dimensional amplitude equation that predicts the forward critical point in the thermodynamic limit, the backward saddle-node point, and the width of the bistable region. Higher order interactions widen this region by shifting the saddle-node point without affecting the forward critical point. Further analysis of Kramer's escape rate explains how noise destabilizes coexistence states and diminishes bistability. Overall, our results provide a unified theoretical and numerical framework for frustrated, noisy, higher-order oscillator networks, revealing that synchronization is strongly influenced by the combined action of phase frustration, stochasticity, and both pairwise and higher-order interactions.