Chimera states in bipartite networks of FitzHugh–Nagumo oscillators

Abstract

Chimera states consisting of spatially coherent and incoherent domains have been observed in different topologies such as rings, spheres, and complex networks. In this paper, we investigate bipartite networks of nonlocally coupled FitzHugh–Nagumo (FHN) oscillators in which the units are allocated evenly to two layers, and FHN units interact with each other only when they are in different layers. We report the existence of chimera states in bipartite networks. Owing to the interplay between chimera states in the two layers, many types of chimera states such as in-phase chimera states, antiphase chimera states, and out-of-phase chimera states are classified. Stability diagrams of several typical chimera states in the coupling strength–coupling radius plane, which show strong multistability of chimera states, are explored.