Spiral wave chimera states in populations of oscillators mediated by a slowly varying diffusive environment

Abstract

Chimera states are usually observed in oscillator systems with nonlocal couplings. Such a nonlocal coupling arises typically as oscillators are coupled via an external environment which changes so fast that it could be eliminated adiabatically. Here we for the first time report the existence of spiral wave chimera states in large populations of Stuart-Landau oscillators coupled via a slowly changing diffusive environment under which the adiabatic approximation breaks down. The transition from spiral wave chimeras to spiral waves with the smooth core and to unstable spiral wave chimeras as functions of the system parameters are exploited. The phenomenological mechanism for explaining the formation of spiral wave chimeras is also proposed. The existence of spiral wave chimeras and the underlying mechanism are further confirmed in a three-component FitzHugh-Nagumo system with the similar environmental coupling scheme. Our results provide important hints to seek chimera patterns in both laboratory and realistic chemical or biological systems.