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Chimera states with multiple coexisting solutions

Gui-Quan Sun1,2,*,†, Zhi-Chao Xue2,*, Li Li3,*, Jing Li4,*, Charo I. del Genio5,6,‡, and Stefano Boccaletti1,6,7

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: gquansun@126.com
  • ‡Contact author: charo.delgenio@trakia-uni.bg
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 023289 – Published 20 June, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/y3t8-bk24

Abstract

We report on the emergence of chimera states in extended systems characterized by the coexistence of more than two spatiotemporal solutions. Specifically, we show that three-domain chimeras may generically appear in reaction-diffusion systems under three conditions, with a crucial role played by the existence of a Maxwell point. We verify the universality of our findings by analyzing five different models, and demonstrate that such new chimeras are independent of the boundary conditions imposed.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 023289– Published 20 June, 2025
  • Received 9 August 2024
  • Revised 22 October 2024
  • Accepted 1 June 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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