From fireflies to cardiac cells, synchronization governs important aspects of nature, and the Kuramoto model is the staple for research in this area.

We show that generalizing the model to oscillators of dimensions higher than 2 and introducing a positive feedback mechanism between the coupling and the global order parameter leads to a rich and novel scenario: the synchronization transition is explosive at all even dimensions, whilst it is mediated by a time-dependent, rhythmic, state at all odd dimensions. Such a latter circumstance, in particular, differs from all other time-dependent states observed so far in the model.

We provide the analytic description of this novel state, which is fully corroborated by numerical calculations. Our results can, therefore, help untangle secrets of observed time-dependent swarming and flocking dynamics that unfold in three dimensions, and where this novel state could thus provide a fresh perspective for as yet not understood formations.

X. Dai, X. Li, H. Guo, D. Jia, M. Perc, P. Manshour, Z. Wang, S. Boccaletti, Discontinuous Transitions and Rhythmic States in the D-Dimensional Kuramoto Model Induced by a Positive Feedback with the Global Order Parameter, Phys. Rev. Lett. 125 (2020) 194101