Double-well chimeras in 2D lattice of chaotic bistable elements

TL;DR

This paper explores complex spatio-temporal patterns, including novel double-well chimera states, in a 2D lattice of coupled chaotic bistable elements, revealing new phenomena in the transition from coherence to incoherence.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of double-well chimera states in 2D chaotic lattices, expanding understanding of chimera phenomena in higher-dimensional systems.

Findings

Discovery of double-well chimera states due to bistability and 2D structure

Observation of double-well chimera death in steady states

Identification of mixed chimera patterns combining different types

Abstract

We investigate spatio-temporal dynamics of a 2D ensemble of nonlocally coupled chaotic cubic maps in a bistability regime. In particular, we perform a detailed study on the transition "coherence -- incoherence" for varying coupling strength for a fixed interaction radius. For the 2D ensemble we show the appearance of amplitude and phase chimera states previously reported for 1D ensembles of nonlocally coupled chaotic systems. Moreover, we uncover a novel type of chimera state, double-well chimera, which occurs due to the interplay of the bistability of the local dynamics and the 2D ensemble structure. Additionally, we find double-well chimera behaviour for steady states which we call double-well chimera death. A distinguishing feature of chimera patterns observed in the lattice is that they mainly combine clusters of different chimera types: phase, amplitude and double-well chimeras.