Mathematical Framework for Breathing Chimera States

About two decades ago it was discovered that systems of nonlocally coupled oscillators can exhibit unusual symmetry-breaking patterns composed of coherent and incoherent regions. Since then such patterns, called chimera states, have been the subject of intensive study but mostly in the stationary case when the coarse-grained system dynamics remains unchanged over time. Nonstationary coherence–incoherence patterns, in particular periodically breathing chimera states, were also reported, however not investigated systematically because of their complexity. In this paper we suggest a semi-analytic solution to the above problem providing a mathematical framework for the analysis of breathing chimera states in a ring of nonlocally coupled phase oscillators. Our approach relies on the consideration of an integro-differential equation describing the long-term coarse-grained dynamics of the oscillator system. For this equation we specify a class of solutions relevant to breathing chimera states. We derive a self-consistency equation for these solutions and carry out their stability analysis. We show that our approach correctly predicts macroscopic features of breathing chimera states. Moreover, we point out its potential application to other models which can be studied using the Ott–Antonsen reduction technique.

Chimera state in coupled map lattice of matrices

In recent years, a lot of research has focused on understanding the behavior of when synchronous and asynchronous phases occur, that is, the existence of chimera states in various networks. Chimera states have wide-range applications in many disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, or engineering. The object of research in this paper is a coupled map lattice of matrices when each node is described by an iterative map of matrices of order two. A regular topology network of iterative maps of matrices was formed by replacing the scalar iterative map with the iterative map of matrices in each node. The coupled map of matrices is special in a way where we can observe the effect of divergence. This effect can be observed when the matrix of initial conditions is a nilpotent matrix. Also, the evolution of the derived network is investigated. It is found that the network of the supplementary variable $\mu$ can evolve into three different modes: the quiet state, the state of divergence, and the formation of divergence chimeras. The space of parameters of node coupling including coupling strength $\varepsilon$ and coupling range $r$ is also analyzed in this study. Image entropy is applied in order to identify chimera state parameter zones.

Impact of Nonlocal Interaction on Chimera States in Nonlocally Coupled Stuart–Landau Oscillators

We investigate the existence of collective dynamical states in nonlocally coupled Stuart–Landau oscillators with symmetry breaking included in the coupling term. We find that the radius of nonlocal interaction and nonisochronicity parameter play important roles in identifying the swing of synchronized states through amplitude chimera states. Collective dynamical states are distinguished with the help of strength of incoherence. Different transition routes to multi-chimera death states are analyzed with respect to the nonlocal coupling radius. In addition, we investigate the existence of collective dynamical states including traveling wave state, amplitude chimera state and multi-chimera death state by introducing higher-order nonlinear terms in the system. We also verify the robustness of the given notable properties for the coupled system.

Influence of parameters inhomogeneity on the existence of chimera states in a ring of nonlocally coupled maps

The aim of the research is to study the influence of inhomogeneity in a control parameter of all partial elements in a ring of nonlocally coupled chaotic maps on the possibility of observing chimera states in the system and to compare the changes in regions of chimera realization using different methods of introducing the inhomogeneity. Methods. In this paper, snapshots of the system dynamics are constructed for various values of the parameters, as well as spatial distributions of cross-correlation coefficient values, which enable us to determine the regime observed in the system for these parameters. To improve the accuracy of the obtained results, the numerical studies are carried out for fifty different realizations of initial conditions of the ring elements. Results. It is shown that a fixed inhomogeneous distribution of the control parameters with increasing noise intensity leads to an increase in the range of the coupling strength where chimera states are observed. With this, the boundary lying in the region of strong coupling changes more significantly as compared with the case of weak coupling strength. The opposite effect is provided when the control parameters are permanently affected by noise. In this case increasing the noise intensity leads to a decrease in the interval of existence of chimera states. Additionally, the nature of the random variable distribution (normal or uniform one) does not strongly influence the observed changes in the ring dynamics. The regions of existence of chimera states are constructed in the plane of «coupling strength – noise intensity» parameters. Conclusion. We have studied how the region of existence of chimeras changes when the coupling strength between the ring elements is varied and when different characteristics of the inhomogeneous distribution of the control parameters are used. It has been shown that in order to increase the region of observing chimera states, the control parameters of the elements must be distributed inhomogeneously over the entire ensemble. To reduce this region, a constant noise effect on the control parameters should be used.

Partial synchronization patterns in brain networks

Partial synchronization patterns play an important role in the functioning of neuronal networks, both in pathological and in healthy states. They include chimera states, which consist of spatially coexisting domains of coherent (synchronized) and incoherent (desynchronized) dynamics, and other complex patterns. In this perspective article we show that partial synchronization scenarios are governed by a delicate interplay of local dynamics and network topology. Our focus is in particular on applications of brain dynamics like unihemispheric sleep and epileptic seizure.