Mechanical Self-Organization of Cardiomyocytes: Self-Amplifying Elastic Synchronization for Long-Range Coordination

Long-range synchronization of cardiomyocytes via purely elastic substrates is limited by the 1/r^3 decay of mechanical interactions. Standard dipole models therefore predict only short-range phase coherence, leaving tissue-scale coordination unexplained. In this work, I introduce a state-dependent network model in which local phase coherence enhances contractile force through mechano-electric feedback. Numerical simulations on a 1D chain show that this feedback extends the spatial correlation length by about an order of magnitude (from ξ ≈ 1.2 to ξ ≳ 20 cell spacings), enabling near system-wide synchronization within the simulated system sizes. I further identify a transition boundary in the stiffness-feedback plane and show that cellular alignment reduces the critical feedback strength by a factor of two to three. These results provide a mechanical basis for the roles of substrate compliance and orientational order in cardiac tissue engineering, and suggest a possible physical pathway for arrhythmogenesis in fibrotic tissue.