Defects, parcellation, and renormalized negative diffusivities in non-homogeneous oscillatory media

Abstract: Coupling among oscillators in spatially-extended systems tends to lock their frequency at a common value. In the presence of spatial non-homogeneities, locking of different regions at different frequencies leads to parcellation, i.e., a series of synchronized clusters (plateaus). Motivated by rhythmic dynamics in physiological systems, we consider a Ginzburg-Landau (GL) model with a gradient of natural frequencies. We determine the scaling of the number of plateaus and their typical length {\it vs} dynamical parameters. Plateaus are separated by defects, where the amplitude of the GL field vanishes and phase differences are reset. For Dirichlet boundary conditions, we use asymptotic methods to determine the field profile around defects. For Neumann boundary conditions, we relate the stability phase diagram and defects' precursors to the spectrum of the non-Hermitian Bloch-Torrey equation, originally introduced for nuclear magnetic resonance. In the non-linear regime, we trace the formation of defects to a non-linear renormalization of the diffusivity, which leads to spatially-modulated negative values and an instability that drives amplitude modulation.