Ageing in mixed populations of Stuart–Landau oscillators: the role of diversity

Abstract

The phenomenon of ageing in a population of autonomous oscillators, namely the increase in the number of inactive (or non-oscillatory) units due to coupling interactions is studied in a population of globally coupled Stuart–Landau oscillators. The initial populations are prepared either as a mixture of active and inactive oscillators or as an ensemble of active oscillators with a mixture of distinct frequencies. The ageing transition does not depend on whether the coupling breaks gauge symmetry or not, but is affected by the degree of diversity in the ensemble, namely the existence of different types of subsystems that can cause oscillation quenching when coupled. The scaling exponents depend on the nature of the coupling interaction.