Eur. Phys. J. B 70, 243-248 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2009-00194-3

Synchronization of multi-phase oscillators: an Axelrod-inspired model

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Centro Atómico Bariloche and Instituto Balseiro, 8400 Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina

Corresponding author: ^a kuperman@cap.cnea.gov.ar

Received: 20 November 2008
Revised: 8 May 2009
Published online: 3 June 2009

Abstract

Inspired by Axelrod's model of culture dissemination, we introduce and analyze a model for a population of coupled oscillators where different levels of synchronization can be assimilated to different degrees of cultural organization. The state of each oscillator is represented by a set of phases, and the interaction – which occurs between homologous phases – is weighted by a decreasing function of the distance between individual states. Both ordered arrays and random networks are considered. We find that the transition between synchronization and incoherent behaviour is mediated by a clustering regime with rich organizational structure, where any two oscillators can be synchronized in some of their phases, while their remain unsynchronized in the others.