How synchronized human networks escape local minima

Finding the global minimum in complex networks while avoiding local minima is challenging across many domains. In human networks and communities, adapting and finding new stable states amid changing conditions is crucial. Studying networks of violin players with unidirectional time-delayed coupling, the authors show that human networks avoid local minima via mechanisms unavailable to non-human networks: individuals change coupling strength, tempo, and amplitude. These capabilities alter network dynamics, making human networks more robust and resilient to perturbations. Experiments reveal higher-order vortex states, oscillation death, and amplitude death arising from these dynamics. The findings have implications for politics, economics, pandemic control, and predicting network dynamics with artificial intelligence.