jp503627q_si_002.avi (11.72 MB)
Synchronization in Autonomous Mercury Beating Heart Systems
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posted on 2014-07-03, 00:00 authored by Dinesh
Kumar Verma, Harpartap Singh, A. Q. Contractor, P. ParmanandaThe ability of the mercury beating
heart (MBH) system to exhibit
sustained mechanical and electrochemical activities simultaneously
without any external agent (fluctuating or constant), has attracted
researchers for decades. The interplay of these activities could mimic
the biological phenomena such as a pulsating heart that occurs due
to the coupled tissues exhibiting mechanical as well as electrical
dynamics. In the present work, we have studied experimentally the
dynamics of electrically coupled two and three autonomous MBH systems.
A dynamical triangular (heart) shape, in the traditional watch glass
geometry, has been chosen for the experiments. It is found that the
redox potentials (electrical behavior) of the quasi-identical (due
to the inherent heterogeneities in the setup) MBH systems get synchronized
at the intermediate coupling strengths whereas coherence in their
mechanical activities occur only at large coupling strengths. To the
best of our knowledge, this synchronization phenomenon involving two
distinct activities (electrical and mechanical) and different coupling
thresholds has not been reported, so far. The coherent mechanical
activities means the simultaneous occurrence of compressions and expansions
in the coupled Hg drops, which are shown using snapshots. In addition
to this, the redox time series have also been provided to demonstrate
the synchronization in the electrical behavior of MBH systems. Moreover,
a mathematical framework considering only electrical and mechanical
components of the MBH systems is presented to validate the experimental
findings that the strong synchrony in the redox potentials of the
MBH systems is a prerequisite for the synchrony in their mechanical
activities.