Title: The origin of symmetry breaking in chimera states

Speaker: Tejas Kotwal, IIT Bombay

Abstract: In this talk, we will first go through a brief historical tour of the major works on synchronization phenomena and pattern formation in a network of coupled oscillators. Various examples that arise in nature from fields such as biology, mechanics, chemistry and physics will be presented. We then try to appreciate how an asymmetrical equilibrium state (chimera state) can emerge in a completely symmetrical system (This is what is referred to as 'symmetry breaking'). Understanding the origin of this symmetry breaking requires analyzing the bifurcation surfaces that are inherent to the nonlinear system of differential equations (i.e., their geometry and how they intersect with each other). Finally, we look at one more very exciting example wherein a thorough understanding of chimera states could potentially shed deeper insights to the specified physical phenomenon.