title: Robustness of chimera states for coupled FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators.
abstract: Chimera states are complex spatio-temporal patterns that consist of coexisting domains of spatially coherent and incoherent dynamics. This counterintuitive phenomenon was first observed in systems of identical oscillators with symmetric coupling topology. Can one overcome these limitations? To address this question, we discuss the robustness of chimera states in networks of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators. Considering networks of inhomogeneous elements with regular coupling topology, and networks of identical elements with irregular coupling topologies, we demonstrate that chimera states are robust with respect to these perturbations and analyze their properties as the inhomogeneities increase. We find that modifications of coupling topologies cause qualitative changes of chimera states: additional random links induce a shift of the stability regions in the system parameter plane, gaps in the connectivity matrix result in a change of the multiplicity of incoherent regions of the chimera state, and hierarchical geometry in the connectivity matrix induces nested coherent and incoherent regions.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstraße 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Iryna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Omelchenko
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Center for Scientific Research "Demokritos," 15310 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Astero
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Provata
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Center for Scientific Research "Demokritos," 15310 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Johanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hizanidis
authors.affiliation: Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstraße 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Eckehard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schöll
authors.affiliation: Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstraße 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany.|Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Philippstraße 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hövel
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010507:Periodicity