Hsien-Ching Kao

Chimera states consisting of domains of coherently and incoherently oscillating oscillators in a two-dimensional periodic array of nonlocally coupled phase oscillators are studied. In addition to the one-dimensional chimera states familiar from one spatial dimension, two-dimensional structures termed twisted chimera states and spiral wave chimera states are identified in simulations. The properties of many of these states, including stability, are determined using an evolution equation for a complex order parameter and are found to be in agreement with the simulations.

Chimera states consisting of domains of coherently and incoherently oscillating nonlocally coupled phase oscillators in systems with spatial inhomogeneity are studied. The inhomogeneity is introduced through the dependence of the oscillator frequency on its location. Two types of spatial inhomogeneity, localized and spatially periodic, are considered and their effects on the existence and properties of multicluster and traveling chimera states are explored. The inhomogeneity is found to break up splay states, to pin the chimera states to specific locations, and to trap traveling chimeras. Many of these states can be studied by constructing an evolution equation for a complex order parameter. Solutions of this equation are in good agreement with the results of numerical simulations.

Chimera states consisting of domains of coherently and incoherently oscillating nonlocally-coupled phase oscillators in systems with spatial inhomogeneity are studied. The inhomogeneity is introduced through the dependence of the oscillator frequency on its location. Two types of spatial inhomogeneity, localized and spatially periodic, are considered and their effects on the existence and properties of multi-cluster and traveling chimera states are explored. The inhomogeneity is found to break up splay states, to pin the chimera states to specific locations and to trap traveling chimeras. Many of these states can be studied by constructing an evolution equation for a complex order parameter. Solutions of this equation are in good agreement with the results of numerical simulations.

Chimera states consisting of domains of coherently and incoherently oscillating identical oscillators with nonlocal coupling are studied. These states usually coexist with the fully synchronized state and have a small basin of attraction. We propose a nonlocal phase-coupled model in which chimera states develop from random initial conditions. Several classes of chimera states have been found: (a) stationary multicluster states with evenly distributed coherent clusters, (b) stationary multicluster states with unevenly distributed clusters, and (c) a single cluster state traveling with a constant speed across the system. Traveling coherent states are also identified. A self-consistent continuum description of these states is provided and their stability properties analyzed through a combination of linear stability analysis and numerical simulation.

We study spatial localization in the generalized Swift-Hohenberg equation with either quadratic-cubic or cubic-quintic nonlinearity subject to spatially heterogeneous forcing. Different types of forcing (sinusoidal or Gaussian) with different spatial scales are considered and the corresponding localized snaking structures are computed. The results indicate that spatial heterogeneity exerts a significant influence on the location of spatially localized structures in both parameter space and physical space, and on their stability properties. The results are expected to assist in the interpretation of experiments on localized structures where departures from spatial homogeneity are generally unavoidable.