Conditions and Linear Stability Analysis at the Transition to Synchronization of Three Coupled Phase Oscillators in a Ring

We consider a system of three nonidentical coupled phase oscillators in a ring topology. We explore the conditions that must be satisfied in order to obtain the phases at the transition to a synchrony state. These conditions lead to the correct mathematical expressions of phases that aid to find a simple analytic formula for critical coupling when the oscillators transit to a synchronization state having a common frequency value. The finding of a simple expression for the critical coupling allows us to perform a linear stability analysis at the transition to the synchronization stage. The obtained analytic forms of the eigenvalues show that the three coupled phase oscillators with periodic boundary conditions transit to a synchrony state when a saddle-node bifurcation occurs.