When Nonlocal Coupling Between Oscillators Becomes Stronger: Patched Synchrony or Multi-Chimera States

TL;DR

This paper explores how increasing nonlocal coupling strength in oscillator systems leads to novel multi-chimera states with patches of synchrony within incoherent regions, revealing complex dynamics beyond traditional phase models.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of multi-chimera states arising from strong coupling in limit-cycle oscillators, extending understanding beyond weak-coupling phase oscillator models.

Findings

Multi-chimera states emerge with increased coupling strength.

Different multi-chimeras occur depending on coupling parameters.

Strong coupling induces spatial modulation not seen in simple models.

Abstract

Systems of nonlocally coupled oscillators can exhibit complex spatio-temporal patterns, called chimera states, which consist of coexisting domains of spatially coherent (synchronized) and incoherent dynamics. We report on a novel form of these states, found in a widely used model of a limit-cycle oscillator if one goes beyond the limit of weak coupling typical for phase oscillators. Then patches of synchronized dynamics appear within the incoherent domain giving rise to a multi-chimera state. We find that, depending on the coupling strength and range, different multi-chimeras arise in a transition from classical chimera states. The additional spatial modulation is due to strong coupling interaction and thus cannot be observed in simple phase-oscillator models.