title: Chaos in symmetric phase oscillator networks.
abstract: Phase-coupled oscillators serve as paradigmatic models of networks of weakly interacting oscillatory units in physics and biology. The order parameter which quantifies synchronization so far has been found to be chaotic only in systems with inhomogeneities. Here we show that even symmetric systems of identical oscillators may not only exhibit chaotic dynamics, but also chaotically fluctuating order parameters. Our findings imply that neither inhomogeneities nor amplitude variations are necessary to obtain chaos; i.e., nonlinear interactions of phases give rise to the necessary instabilities.
authors.affiliation: Network Dynamics Group, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS), 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bick
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Timme
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Paulikat
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rathlev
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ashwin
mesh_terms: D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D009991:Oscillometry