Oscillatory activity regulation in an ensemble of autonomous mercury beating heart oscillators

Collective behavior of an ensemble of directly or indirectly coupled oscillators can be a function of population density. Experiments using autonomous mercury beating heart (MBH) oscillators coupled through their surroundings are employed, to study the existence of quorum-like (population dependent) phenomena. Two coupling mechanisms are used, namely, static and dynamic coupling. For the static coupling scheme, the transitions of a subset of the coupled oscillators occur from active (oscillatory) to inactive (quiescent) state and vice versa. A continuous variation of collective dynamics was observed as the population of the oscillators increased. For the dynamic coupling scheme, the time for which the coupled oscillators are active changes sharply as the population increases beyond a certain threshold.