Clustered chimera states in systems of type-I excitability

Abstract

The chimera state is a fascinating phenomenon of coexisting synchronized and desynchronized behaviour that was discovered in networks of nonlocally coupled identical phase oscillators over ten years ago. Since then, chimeras have been found in numerous theoretical and experimental studies and more recently in models of neuronal dynamics as well. In this work, we consider a generic model for a saddle-node bifurcation on a limit cycle representative of neural excitability type I. We obtain chimera states with multiple coherent regions (clustered chimeras/multi-chimeras) depending on the distance from the excitability threshold, the range of nonlocal coupling and the coupling strength. A detailed stability diagram for these chimera states and other interesting coexisting patterns (like traveling waves) is presented.