Mobility and density induced amplitude death in metapopulation networks of coupled oscillators

We investigate the effects of mobility and density on the amplitude death of coupled Landau-Stuart oscillators and Brusselators in metapopulation networks, wherein each node represents a subpopulation occupied any number of mobile individuals. By numerical simulations in scale-free topology, we find that the systems undergo phase transitions from incoherent state to amplitude death, and then to frequency synchronization with increasing the mobility rate or density of oscillators. Especially, there exists an extent of intermediate mobility rate and density that can lead to global oscillator death. Furthermore, we show that such nontrivial phenomena are robust to diverse network topologies. Our findings may invoke further efforts and attentions to explore the underlying mechanism of collective behaviors in coupled metapopulation systems. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.