Multistability of twisted states in non-locally coupled Kuramoto-type models

A ring of N identical phase oscillators with interactions between L-nearest neighbors is considered, where L ranges from 1 (local coupling) to N/2 (global coupling). The coupling function is a simple sinusoid, as in the Kuramoto model, but with a minus sign which has a profound influence on its behavior. Without the limitation of the generality, the frequency of the free-running oscillators can be set to zero. The resulting system is of gradient type, and therefore, all its solutions converge to an equilibrium point. All so-called q-twisted states, where the phase difference between neighboring oscillators on the ring is 2πq/N, are equilibrium points, where q is an integer. Their stability in the limit N → ∞ is discussed along the line of Wiley et al. [Chaos 16, 015103 (2006)] In addition, we prove that when a twisted state is asymptotically stable for the infinite system, it is also asymptotically stable for sufficiently large N. Note that for smaller N, the same q-twisted states may become unstable and other q-twisted states may become stable. Finally, the existence of additional equilibrium states, called here multi-twisted states, is shown by numerical simulation. The phase difference between neighboring oscillators is approximately 2πq/N in one sector of the ring, -2πq/N in another sector, and it has intermediate values between the two sectors. Our numerical investigation suggests that the number of different stable multi-twisted states grows exponentially as N → ∞. It is possible to interpret the equilibrium points of the coupled phase oscillator network as trajectories of a discrete-time translational dynamical system where the space-variable (position on the ring) plays the role of time. The q-twisted states are then fixed points, and the multi-twisted states are periodic solutions of period N that are close to a heteroclinic cycle. Due to the apparently exponentially fast growing number of such stable periodic solutions, the system shows spatial chaos as N → ∞.