Effective-potential approach to hybrid synchronization transitions

The Kuramoto model exhibits different types of synchronization transitions depending on the type of natural frequency distribution. To obtain these results, the Kuramoto self-consistency equation (SCE) approach has been used successfully. However, this approach affords only limited understanding of more detailed properties such as the stability. Here we extend the SCE approach by introducing an effective potential, that is, an integral version of the SCE. We examine the landscape of this effective potential for second-order, first-order, and hybrid synchronization transitions in the thermodynamic limit. In particular, for the hybrid transition, we find that the minimum of effective potential displays a plateau across the region in which the order parameter jumps. This result suggests that the effective potential can be used to determine a type of synchronization transition.