2019/10/24 by Alexander U. Nielsen, Nielsen, Alexander U., Yiqing Xu +11
Computer Science · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies #Chaotic Dynamics (nlin.CD) #FOS: Physical sciences #Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation #Optics (physics.optics) #Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS) #Slime Mold and Myxomycetes Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1910.11329
openalex publication_date 2019/10/24 · openalex created_date 2019/11/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Chimera states -- named after the mythical beast with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a dragon's tail -- correspond to spatiotemporal patterns characterised by the coexistence of coherent and incoherent domains in coupled systems. They were first identified in 2002 in theoretical studies of spatially extended networks of Stuart-Landau oscillators, and have been subject to extensive theoretical and experimental research ever since. While initially considered peculiar to networks with weak nonlocal coupling, recent theoretical studies have predicted that chimera-like states can emerge even in systems with purely local coupling. Here we report on the first experimental observations of chimera-like states in a system with local coupling -- a coherently-driven Kerr nonlinear optical resonator. We show that artificially engineered discreteness -- realised by suitably modulating the coherent driving field -- allows for the nonlinear localisation of spatiotemporal complexity, and we demonstrate unprecedented control over the existence, characteristics, and dynamics of the resulting chimera-like states. Moreover, using ultrafast time lens imaging, we resolve the chimeras' picosecond-scale internal structure in real time.