Critical Switching in Globally Attractive Chimeras

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new type of chimera state called switching chimeras in coupled oscillators, characterized by power-law noise-induced switching between symmetric configurations, supported by numerical and experimental evidence.

Contribution

The study reveals the existence of power-law switching chimeras driven by noise, linking their behavior to intermingled basins of attraction caused by chaos and symmetry.

Findings

Switching chimeras exhibit power-law scaling with noise intensity.

Switching behavior is caused by intermingled basins of attraction.

Experimental validation on optoelectronic oscillators confirms robustness.

Abstract

We report on a new type of chimera state that attracts almost all initial conditions and exhibits power-law switching behavior in networks of coupled oscillators. Such switching chimeras consist of two symmetric configurations, which we refer to as subchimeras, in which one cluster is synchronized and the other is incoherent. Despite each subchimera being linearly stable, switching chimeras are extremely sensitive to noise: arbitrarily small noise triggers and sustains persistent switching between the two symmetric subchimeras. The average switching frequency scales as a power law with the noise intensity, which is in contrast with the exponential scaling observed in typical stochastic transitions. Rigorous numerical analysis reveals that the power-law switching behavior originates from intermingled basins of attraction associated with the two subchimeras, which in turn are induced by chaos and symmetry in the system. The theoretical results are supported by experiments on coupled optoelectronic oscillators, which demonstrate the generality and robustness of switching chimeras.