Speaker
Description
Synchronization of coupled oscillators is a common phenomenon in biological systems. A closely related phenomenon, anti-synchronization, occurs when neighboring elements adopt opposite phases, as seen in checkerboard-like patterns in cell populations. Such patterns have been observed in the auditory sensory epithelium.
We investigate systems of coupled Kuramoto-type oscillators with identical periods and nearest-neighbor interactions. Such models have been well studied on static networks, but the effect of spatial rearrangements of the oscillators has received much less attention. We add attraction and repulsion to these models (following either the “like attracts like” rule or the “opposites attract” rule) and show how this affects the ability to achieve global synchrony or anti-synchrony in this and related models. One surprising finding is that the “opposites attract” rule tends to enhance the likelihood of reaching global synchrony.
