Chimera death: symmetry breaking in dynamical networks

Area of Science:

• Nonlinear dynamics
• Complex systems
• Network science

Background:

• Chimera states exhibit coexisting coherent and incoherent domains in oscillatory networks.
• Oscillation death describes the suppression of oscillations in coupled systems.
• Understanding pattern formation in complex networks is crucial for various scientific fields.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish novel partially coherent inhomogeneous spatial patterns in generic oscillator networks.
• To investigate the phenomenon of
• chimera death,
• which merges chimera states and oscillation death.
• To analyze the transition scenarios from oscillatory behavior to stationary states in such networks.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of a network of generic oscillators with nonlocal topology.
• Introduction of symmetry-breaking coupling.
• Investigation of the interplay between nonlocality and broken rotational symmetry.

Main Results:

• Novel partially coherent inhomogeneous spatial patterns, termed
• chimera death
• , were established.
• Two distinct transition scenarios to stationary states were identified: one via in-phase synchronized oscillations and a direct abrupt transition.
• The interplay of nonlocality and symmetry breaking was shown to drive these transitions.

Conclusions:

• Chimera death represents a novel state in complex oscillator networks.
• Network topology and coupling symmetry significantly influence emergent dynamics.
• The findings offer new insights into pattern formation and transitions to stationarity in nonlinear systems.