There are a number of types of variations that can be applied to the original model presented above. Some models change the
topological structure, others allow for heterogeneous weights, and other changes are more related to models that are inspired by the Kuramoto model but do not have the same functional form.
Variations of network topology Beside the original model, which has an all-to-all topology, a sufficiently dense
complex network-like topology is amenable to the mean-field treatment used in the solution of the original model (see
Transformation and
Large N limit above for more info). Network topologies such as rings and coupled populations support chimera states. One also may ask for the behavior of models in which there are intrinsically local, like one-dimensional topologies which the chain and the ring are prototypical examples. In such topologies, in which the coupling is not scalable according to 1/
N, it is not possible to apply the canonical mean-field approach, so one must rely upon case-by-case analysis, making use of symmetries whenever it is possible, which may give basis for abstraction of general principles of solutions. Uniform synchrony, waves and spirals can readily be observed in two-dimensional Kuramoto networks with diffusive local coupling. The stability of waves in these models can be determined analytically using the methods of Turing stability analysis. Uniform synchrony tends to be stable when the local coupling is everywhere positive whereas waves arise when the long-range connections are negative (inhibitory surround coupling). Waves and synchrony are connected by a topologically distinct branch of solutions known as ripple. These are low-amplitude spatially-periodic deviations that emerge from the uniform state (or the wave state) via a
Hopf bifurcation. The existence of ripple solutions was predicted (but not observed) by Wiley, Strogatz and
Girvan, who called them multi-twisted q-states. The topology on which the Kuramoto model is studied can be made adaptive by use of
fitness model showing enhancement of synchronization and
percolation in a self-organised way. A graph with the minimal degree at least d_\text{min} \ge 0.5\,n will be connected nevertheless for a graph to synchronize a little more it is required for such case it is known that there is critical connectivity threshold \mu_c such that any graph on n nodes with minimum degree d_\text{min} \ge \mu_c (n - 1) must globally synchronise.for n large enough. The minimum maximum are known to lie between 0.6875\le \mu_c\le 0.75. Similarly it is known that
Erdős-Rényi graphs with edge probability precisely p=(1+\epsilon)\ln (n)/n as n goes to infinity will be connected and it has been conjectured that this value is too the number at which these random graphs undergo synchronization which a 2022 preprint claims to have proved.
Variations of network topology and network weights: from vehicle coordination to brain synchronization s, initially out of phase, synchronize through small motions of the base on which they are placed. This system has been shown to be equivalent to the Kuramoto model. Some works in the control community have focused on the Kuramoto model on networks and with heterogeneous weights (i.e. the interconnection strength between any two oscillators can be arbitrary). The dynamics of this model reads as follows: : \frac{d \theta_i}{d t} = \omega_i + \sum_{j=1}^{N} a_{ij} \sin(\theta_j - \theta_i), \qquad i = 1 \ldots N where a_{ij} is a nonzero positive real number if oscillator j is connected to oscillator i. Such model allows for a more realistic study of, e.g., power grids, flocking, schooling, and vehicle coordination. In the work from Dörfler and colleagues, several theorems provide rigorous conditions for phase and frequency synchronization of this model. Further studies, motivated by experimental observations in neuroscience, focus on deriving analytical conditions for cluster synchronization of heterogeneous Kuramoto oscillators on arbitrary network topologies. Since the Kuramoto model seems to play a key role in assessing synchronization phenomena in the brain, theoretical conditions that support empirical findings may pave the way for a deeper understanding of neuronal synchronization phenomena.
Variations of the phase interaction function Kuramoto approximated the phase interaction between any two oscillators by its first Fourier component, namely \Gamma(\phi) = \sin(\phi), where \phi = \theta_j - \theta_i. Better approximations can be obtained by including higher-order Fourier components, :\Gamma(\phi) = \sin(\phi) + a_1 \sin(2\phi + b_1) + ... + a_n \sin(2n\phi + b_n), where parameters a_i and b_i must be estimated. For example, synchronization among a network of weakly-coupled
Hodgkin–Huxley neurons can be replicated using coupled oscillators that retain the first four Fourier components of the interaction function. The introduction of higher-order phase interaction terms can also induce interesting dynamical phenomena such as partially synchronized states,
heteroclinic cycles, and
chaotic dynamics. == Availability ==