Synchronization in cilia carpets and the Kuramoto model with local coupling: Breakup of global synchronization in the presence of noise

Chaos. 2022 Jan;32(1):013124. doi: 10.1063/5.0075095.

Abstract

Carpets of beating cilia represent a paradigmatic example of self-organized synchronization of noisy biological oscillators, characterized by traveling waves of cilia phase. We present a multi-scale model of a cilia carpet that comprises realistic hydrodynamic interactions between cilia computed for a chiral cilia beat pattern from unicellular Paramecium and active noise of the cilia beat. We demonstrate an abrupt loss of global synchronization beyond a characteristic noise strength. We characterize stochastic transitions between synchronized and disordered dynamics, which generalize the notion of phase slips in pairs of coupled noisy phase oscillators. Our theoretical work establishes a link between the two-dimensional Kuramoto model of phase oscillators with mirror-symmetric oscillator coupling and detailed models of biological oscillators with asymmetric, chiral interactions.

MeSH terms

  • Biological Clocks
  • Cilia*
  • Floors and Floorcoverings*
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Noise