COHERENT STRUCTURES IN COUPLED CHAINS OF SELF-EXCITED OSCILLATORS

Oscillations in a system of two coupled chains of identical limit-cycl e oscillators are investigated. It is shown that a pair of coupled cha ins with different collective frequencies exhibits stable fronts betwe en two possible asymptotic states. The inhomogeneous states formed by the fronts persist for weak coupling between the oscillators in each c hain due to the discrete space variable, thus providing conditions for the existence of localized structures. For stronger coupling, the int erface between two regions of the chains may propagate. The mean speed of propagation is investigated numerically and the results are compar ed with qualitative analysis.