Chimera states in coupled map lattices: Spatiotemporally intermittent behavior and an equivalent cellular automaton

We construct an equivalent cellular automaton (CA) for a system of globally coupled sine circle maps with two populations and distinct values for intergroup and intragroup coupling. The phase diagram of the system shows that the coupled map lattice can exhibit chimera states with synchronized and spatiotemporally intermittent subgroups after evolution from random initial conditions in some parameter regimes, as well as to other kinds of solutions in other parameter regimes. The CA constructed by us reflects the global nature and the two population structure of the coupled map lattice and is able to reproduce the phase diagram accurately. The CA depends only on the total number of laminar and burst sites and shows a transition from co-existing deterministic and probabilistic behavior in the chimera region to fully probabilistic behavior at the phase boundaries. This identifies the characteristic signature of the transition of a cellular automaton to a chimera state. We also construct an evolution equation for the average number of laminar/burst sites from the CA, analyze its behavior and solutions, and correlate these with the behavior seen for the coupled map lattice. Our CA and methods of analysis can have relevance in wider contexts.