Chimera patterns induced by distance-dependent power-law coupling in ecological networks

Abstract

This paper reports the occurrence of several chimera patter ns and the associated transitions among them in a network of coupled oscillators, which are con nected by a long range interaction that obeys a distance-dependent power law. This type of inte raction is common in physics and biology and constitutes a general form of coupling scheme, w here by tuning the power-law exponent of the long range interaction the coupling topology can be va ried from local via nonlocal to global coupling. To explore the effect of the power-law coupling on c ollective dynamics, we consider a network consisting of a realistic ecological model of oscil lating populations, namely the Rosenzweig– MacArthur model, and show that the variation of the power-la w exponent mediates transitions between spatial synchrony and various chimera patterns. We map the possible spatiotemporal states and their scenarios that arise due to the interplay be tween the coupling strength and the power-law exponent.