The Lagrangian and symplectic structures of the Kuramoto oscillator model

Abstract

Despite being under intense scrutiny for 50 years, the Kuramoto oscillator model has remained a quintessential representative of non-equilibrium phase transitions. One of the reasons for its enduring relevance is the apparent lack of an optimization formulation, due to the fact that (superficially), the equations of motion seem to not be compatible with a Lagrangian structure. We show that, as a mean-field classical (twisted) spin model on $S^2$, the Kuramoto model can be described variationaly. Based on this result perturbation analysis around (unstable) Kuramoto equilibria are shown to be equivalent to low-energy fluctuations of mean-field Heisenberg spin models. Intriguingly, off-plane perturbations around these equilibria configurations turn out to be described by a semiclassical Gaudin model, pointing to the fact that oscillator synchronization maps to the spin pairing mechanism investigated by Richardson and subsequently by others.