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Onset of Synchronization in the Disordered Hamiltonian Mean Field Model

We study the Hamiltonian Mean Field (HMF) model of coupled Hamiltonian rotors with a heterogeneous distribution of moments of inertia and coupling strengths. We show that when the parameters of the rotors are heterogeneous, finite size fluctuations can greatly modify the coupling strength at which the incoherent state loses stability by inducing correlations between the momenta and parameters of the rotors. When the distribution of initial frequencies of the oscillators is sufficiently narrow, an analytical expression for the modification in critical coupling strength is obtained that confirms numerical simulations. We find that heterogeneity in the moments of inertia tends to stabilize the incoherent state, while heterogeneity in the coupling strengths tends to destabilize the incoherent state. Numerical simulations show that these effects disappear for a wide, bimodal frequency distribution.