Moving spiral wave chimeras

We consider a two-dimensional array of heterogeneous nonlocally coupled phase oscillators on a flat torus and study the bound states of two counter-rotating spiral chimeras, shortly two-core spiral chimeras, observed in this system. In contrast to other known spiral chimeras with motionless incoherent cores, the two-core spiral chimeras typically show a drift motion. Due to this drift, their incoherent cores become spatially modulated and develop specific fingerprint patterns of varying synchrony levels. In the continuum limit of infinitely many oscillators, the two-core spiral chimeras can be studied using the Ott-Antonsen equation. Numerical analysis of this equation allows us to reveal the stability region of different spiral chimeras, which we group into three main classes-symmetric, asymmetric, and meandering spiral chimeras.

Automated summary

The study focuses on the bound states of two counter-rotating spiral chimeras in a two-dimensional array of heterogeneous nonlocally coupled phase oscillators on a flat torus. Unlike other known spiral chimeras, these two-core spiral chimeras typically exhibit drift motion and develop specific fingerprint patterns of varying synchrony levels. Numerical analysis of the Ott-Antonsen equation reveals the stability regions of different spiral chimeras, which are classified into three main categories: symmetric, asymmetric, and meandering spiral chimeras.