title: Loss of coherence in a population of diffusively coupled oscillators.
abstract: The authors investigate the relationship between the natural frequency distribution of diffusively coupled chemical oscillators and their entrainment by pacemakers. The system consists of micrometer-sized catalyst beads which are coupled to their neighbors by diffusion of the activator/inhibitor species through the catalyst-free Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction solution. The frequency distribution is measured as a function of the beads' number of neighbors. With the maximum number of neighbors, either target waves or disordered patterns are observed in the reaction domain and there is a shift to higher frequencies than those observed in the natural frequency distribution. The loss of coherence between neighbor oscillators is quantified by a decrease in the phase synchronization index. The experimental results are reproduced in simulations which demonstrate that the decrease in the degree of synchronization is correlated with the appearance of a small fraction of permanently excited beads in BZ populations of high mean frequency and/or large width.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Toth
authors.forename: Annette F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Taylor