Differentiation in a globally coupled circle map with growth and death

Abstract

A key characteristic of biological systems is the continuous life cycle where cells are born, grow and die. From a dynamical point of view the events of cell division and cell death are of paramount importance and constitute a radical departure from systems with a fixed size. In this paper, a globally coupled circle map where elements can dynamically be added and removed is investigated for the conditions under which differentiation of roles can occur. In the presence of an external source, it is found that populations of very long-living cells are sustained by short-living cells. In the case without an external source, it is found that at higher nonlinearities of the local map, large populations cannot be sustained with a previously employed division strategy but that a different and conceptually equally natural division strategy allows for differentiation of roles. © EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2005.