Experimental observation of extreme multistability in an electronic system of two coupled Rössler oscillators.

We report the first experimental observation of extreme multistability in a controlled laboratory investigation. Extreme multistability arises when infinitely many attractors coexist for the same set of system parameters. The behavior was predicted earlier on theoretical grounds, supported by numerical studies of models of two coupled identical or nearly identical systems. We construct and couple two analog circuits based on a modified coupled Rössler system and demonstrate the occurrence of extreme multistability through a controlled switching to different attractor states purely through a change in initial conditions for a fixed set of system parameters. Numerical studies of the coupled model equations are in agreement with our experimental findings.

Chimera states: the existence criteria revisited.

Chimera states, representing a spontaneous breakup of a population of identical oscillators that are identically coupled, into subpopulations displaying synchronized and desynchronized behavior, have traditionally been found to exist in weakly coupled systems and with some form of nonlocal coupling between the oscillators. Here we show that neither the weak-coupling approximation nor nonlocal coupling are essential conditions for their existence. We obtain, for the first time, amplitude-mediated chimera states in a system of globally coupled complex Ginzburg-Landau oscillators. We delineate the dynamical origins for the formation of such states from a bifurcation analysis of a reduced model equation and also discuss the practical implications of our discovery of this broader class of chimera states.

Amplitude-mediated chimera states.

We investigate the possibility of obtaining chimera state solutions of the nonlocal complex Ginzburg-Landau equation (NLCGLE) in the strong coupling limit when it is important to retain amplitude variations. Our numerical studies reveal the existence of a variety of amplitude-mediated chimera states (including stationary and nonstationary two-cluster chimera states) that display intermittent emergence and decay of amplitude dips in their phase incoherent regions. The existence regions of the single-cluster chimera state and both types of two-cluster chimera states are mapped numerically in the parameter space of C(1) and C(2), the linear and nonlinear dispersion coefficients, respectively, of the NLCGLE. They represent a new domain of dynamical behavior in the well-explored rich phase diagram of this system. The amplitude-mediated chimera states may find useful applications in understanding spatiotemporal patterns found in fluid flow experiments and other strongly coupled systems.

Amplitude death in networks of delay-coupled delay oscillators.

Amplitude death is a dynamical phenomenon in which a network of oscillators settles to a stable state as a result of coupling. Here, we study amplitude death in a generalized model of delay-coupled delay oscillators. We derive analytical results for degree homogeneous networks which show that amplitude death is governed by certain eigenvalues of the network's adjacency matrix. In particular, these results demonstrate that in delay-coupled delay oscillators amplitude death can occur for arbitrarily large coupling strength k. In this limit, we find a region of amplitude death which already occurs at small coupling delays that scale with 1/k. We show numerically that these results remain valid in random networks with heterogeneous degree distribution.

Existence and stability of traveling-wave states in a ring of nonlocally coupled phase oscillators with propagation delays.

We investigate the existence and stability of traveling-wave solutions in a continuum field of nonlocally coupled identical phase oscillators with distance-dependent propagation delays. A comprehensive stability diagram in the parametric space of the system is presented that shows a rich structure of multistable regions and illuminates the relative influences of time delay, the nonlocality parameter and the intrinsic oscillator frequency on the dynamics of these states. A decrease in the intrinsic oscillator frequency leads to a break-up of the stability domains of the traveling waves into disconnected regions in the parametric space. These regions exhibit a tongue structure for high connectivity, whereas they submerge into the stable region of the synchronous state for low connectivity. One finding is the existence of forbidden regions in the parametric space where no phase-locked solutions are possible. We also discover a new class of nonstationary breather states for this model system that are characterized by periodic oscillations of the complex order parameter.

Synchronous solutions and their stability in nonlocally coupled phase oscillators with propagation delays.

We study the existence and stability of synchronous solutions in a continuum field of nonlocally coupled identical phase oscillators with distance-dependent propagation delays. We present a comprehensive stability diagram in the parameter space of the system. From the numerical results, a heuristic synchronization condition is suggested and an analytic relation for the marginal stability curve is obtained. We also provide an expression in the form of a scaling relation that closely follows the marginal stability curve over the complete range of the nonlocality parameter.

Clustered chimera states in delay-coupled oscillator systems.

We investigate chimera states in a ring of identical phase oscillators coupled in a time-delayed and spatially nonlocal fashion. We find novel clustered chimera states that have spatially distributed phase coherence separated by incoherence with adjacent coherent regions in antiphase. The existence of such time-delay induced phase clustering is further supported through solutions of a generalized functional self-consistency equation of the mean field. Our results highlight an additional mechanism for cluster formation that may find wider practical applications.