Mobility-enhanced signal response in metapopulation networks of coupled oscillators

TL;DR

This paper studies how mobility influences the response of coupled oscillators in metapopulation networks, revealing mobility-enhanced signal amplification and a nonmonotonic response with optimal mobility levels, supported by mean-field analysis.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of mobility-enhanced signal response in metapopulation networks of coupled oscillators, combining simulation and mean-field analysis to reveal novel dynamical behaviors.

Findings

Mobility increases oscillator response from intrawell to interwell motion.

Maximum signal gain occurs at moderate mobility levels.

The phenomenon is robust across different network parameters.

Abstract

We investigate the effect of mobility on the response of coupled oscillators to a subthreshold external signal in metapopulation networks, wherein each node represents a subpopulation with overdamped bistable oscillators that can randomly diffuse between nodes. With increasing mobility rate, the oscillators undergo transitions from intrawell to interwell motion, demonstrating clearly mobility-enhanced signal amplification. Moreover, the response shows nonmonotonic dependence on the mobility rate, i.e., a maximal gain occurs at a moderate level of mobility. This interesting phenomenon is robust against variations in the overall density, network size, as well as network topology. In addition, a simple mean-field analysis is carried out to qualitatively illustrate the simulation results.