We show that the threshold condition for two pump photons to convert into a pair of the sideband ones in Kerr microresonators with high-quality factors breaks the pump laser parameter space into a sequence of narrow in frequency and broad in power Arnold tongues. Instability tongues become a dominant feature in resonators with the finesse dispersion parameter close to and above one. As pump power is increased, the tongues expand and cross by forming a line of cusps, i.e., the threshold of complexity, where more sideband pairs become unstable. We elaborate theory for the tongues and threshold of complexity, and report the synchronisation and frequency-domain symmetry breaking effects inside the tongues.

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• Nonlinear optics
• Optical bistability
• Optical parametric oscillators & amplifiers
• Pattern formation
• Third order nonlinear optical processes
• Nonlinear waves
• Optical microcavities