The emergence of collective behaviors in networks of dynamical units in pairwise interaction has been explained as the effect of diffusive coupling. How does the presence of higher-order interaction impact the onset of spontaneous or induced synchronous behavior? Inspired by actuation and measurement constraints typical of physical and engineered systems, we propose a diffusion mechanism over hypergraphs that explains the onset of synchronization through a clarifying analogy with signed graphs. Our findings are mathematically backed by general conditions for convergence to the synchronous state.

• Received 23 March 2023
• Revised 8 August 2023
• Accepted 10 October 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.207401