Dynamics of a Kuramoto Model with Two-Body and Three-Body Interactions

Abstract

In this paper, in order to study the dynamic behavior of the three-body interaction, the generalized Kuramoto model with bimodal frequency distribution under the joint interaction of two-body and three-body is proposed. The comparative numerical results of the phase synchronization paths of the three-body interaction under different coupling strengths show that the three-body interaction can transform the continuous transition process into the first-order transition process. Interestingly, the change from continuous to discontinuous transition due to the variation of the coupling strength of the three-body interaction is similar to the shape of the bimodal distribution of the natural frequency. The critical coupling strength of the two-body interaction of synchronous transition is derived from the Ott–Antonsen–Ansatz method. The numerical results are consistent with the theoretical ones. The findings help our understanding of the transformation process from being continuous to discontinuous.