Mechanical signaling via nonlinear wavefront propagation in a mechanically-excitable medium

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel mechanical signaling mechanism based on nonlinear wavefront propagation of stress in a medium, offering a new perspective beyond traditional chemical diffusion models.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for mechanical signaling via nonlinear wavefronts, emphasizing the roles of elasticity and damping in the process.

Findings

Mechanical stress can propagate as nonlinear waves.

Wavefront propagation depends on elasticity and damping.

Mechanical signaling offers an alternative to chemical diffusion.

Abstract

Models that invoke nonlinear wavefront propagation in a chemically excitable medium are rife in the biological literature. Indeed, the idea that wavefront propagation can serve as a signaling mechanism has often been invoked to explain synchronization of developmental processes. In this paper we suggest a new kind of signaling based not on diffusion of a chemical species but on the propagation of mechanical stress. We construct a theoretical approach to describe mechanical signaling as a nonlinear wavefront propagation problem and study its dependence on key variables such as the effective elasticity and damping of the medium.