A catastrophic approach to designing interacting hysterons

Abstract We present a framework for analyzing collections of interacting hysterons through the lens of catastrophe theory. By modeling hysteron dynamics as a gradient system, we show how to construct hysteron transition graphs by characterizing the fold bifurcations of the dynamical system. Transition graphs represent the sequence of hysterons switching states, providing critical insights into the collective behavior of driven disordered media. Extending this analysis to higher codimension bifurcations, such as cusp bifurcations and crossings of fold curves, allows us to map out how the topology of transition graphs changes with variations in system parameters. This approach can suggest strategies for designing metamaterials capable of encoding targeted memory and computational functionalities, but it also highlights the rapid increase of design complexity with system size, further underscoring the computational challenges of controlling large hysteretic systems.