Instantaneous frequencies in the Kuramoto model

Abstract

Using the main results of the Kuramoto theory of globally coupled phase oscillators combined with methods from probability and generalized function theory in a geometric analysis, we extend Kuramoto's results and obtain a mathematical description of the instantaneous frequency (phase-velocity) distribution. Our result is validated against numerical simulations, and we illustrate it in cases in which the natural frequencies have normal and Beta distributions. In both cases, we vary the coupling strength and compare systematically the distribution of time-averaged frequencies (a known result of Kuramoto theory) to that of instantaneous frequencies, focusing on their qualitative differences near the synchronized frequency and in their tails. For a class of natural frequency distributions with power-law tails, which includes the Cauchy-Lorentz distribution, we analyze the tails of the instantaneous frequency distribution by means of an asymptotic formula obtained from a power-series expansion.