Motion-induced synchronization in metapopulations of mobile agents

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the movement of agents on a network influences the emergence of synchronization, revealing a new motion-induced transition and different pathways to collective order depending on movement rules.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism of synchronization transition driven by agent motion and analyzes how different movement rules affect the microscopic pathways to synchronization.

Findings

Motion induces a new transition to synchronization.

Different microscopic paths depend on movement rules.

Analytical understanding of motion-driven synchronization mechanisms.

Abstract

We study the influence of motion on the emergence of synchronization in a metapopulation of random walkers moving on a heterogeneous network and subject to Kuramoto interactions at the network nodes. We discover a novel mechanism of transition to macroscopic dynamical order induced by the walkers' motion. Furthermore, we observe two different microscopic paths to synchronization: depending on the rules of the motion, either low-degree nodes or the hubs drive the whole system towards synchronization. We provide analytical arguments to understand these results.