https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-026-02308-9
Regular Article
Transitions to oscillation death in coupled oscillators with competing higher-order interactions
Department of Physics, Central University of Rajasthan, 305 817, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India
a
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Received:
15
February
2026
Accepted:
3
April
2026
Published online:
13
April
2026
Abstract
In this article, we explore the dynamics of globally coupled Stuart–Landau oscillators subject to competing higher-order interactions. We first explore the system under competing and weighted similar and dissimilar (conjugate) variable couplings. We find that as we increase the weight of the conjugate interactions, the system undergoes a sharp transition from oscillation to steady-state regime with a hysteretic region. The critical coupling weight required for the onset of steady state is calculated, and it is found to be inversely proportional to the coupling strength of the system. Our bifurcation analysis shows that the system reaches a steady state via a saddle-node bifurcation, while a scan of the parameter space unveils the regions where oscillation death occurs. This framework is extended to a system of coupled Stuart–Landau oscillators with competing attractive and repulsive couplings. In this case, it is observed that the system undergoes a sharp transition to steady state with negligible hysteresis area. Thus, our study demonstrates that competing group interactions can induce sharp transitions to oscillation death, thereby offering new insights into the behavior of dynamical systems such as ecological and chemical systems where such complex interactions are prevalent.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2026
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
