Extreme variability in convergence to structural balance in frustrated dynamical systems

In many complex systems, heterogeneous connections can subject constituent elements to conflicting influences, resulting in frustration. Here we show numerically that an initially frustrated system can achieve structural balance by a link adaptation process inspired by Hebb's principle, with interaction strengths evolving in accordance with the dynamical states of its components. In the presence of fluctuations the time required to converge to the balanced state exhibits large dispersion characterized by a bimodal distribution, pointing to an intriguing problem in the study of evolving energy landscapes.