We investigate the basin of attraction properties and its boundaries for chimera states in a circulant network of Hénon maps. It is known that coexisting basins of attraction lead to a hysteretic behaviour in the diagrams of the density of states as a function of a varying parameter. Chimera states, for which coherent and incoherent domains occur simultaneously, emerge as a consequence of the coexistence of basin of attractions for each state. Consequently, the distribution of chimera states can remain invariant by a parameter change, and it can also suffer subtle changes when one of the basins ceases to exist. A similar phenomenon is observed when perturbations are applied in the initial conditions. By means of the uncertainty exponent, we characterise the basin boundaries between the coherent and chimera states, and between the incoherent and chimera states. This way, we show that the density of chimera states can be not only moderately sensitive but also highly sensitive to initial conditions. This chimera’s dilemma is a consequence of the fractal and riddled nature of the basin boundaries.

Chimera states are spatiotemporal patterns in which coherent and incoherent dynamics coexist simultaneously. These patterns were observed in both locally and nonlocally coupled oscillators. We study the existence of chimera states in networks of coupled Rössler oscillators. The Rössler oscillator can exhibit periodic or chaotic behavior depending on the control parameters. In this work, we show that the existence of coherent, incoherent, and chimera states depends not only on the coupling strength, but also on the initial state of the network. The initial states can belong to complex basins of attraction that are not homogeneously distributed. Due to this fact, we characterize the basins by means of the uncertainty exponent and basin stability. In our simulations, we find basin boundaries with smooth, fractal, and riddled structures.

This paper is divided into two main portions. First, we look at basins of attraction as a tool with a unique set of characteristics for discussing multistability and coexisting attractors in a gyrostat chaotic system. For the validation of coexisting attractors in different basins, several approaches such as bifurcation diagrams, Lyapunov exponents, and the Poincaré section are applied. The second half of the study synchronizes two mechanical chaotic systems using a novel controller, with gyrostat and quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (QUAV) chaotic systems acting as master and slave systems, respectively. The error dynamical system and the parameter updated law are built using Lyapunov’s theory, and it is discovered that under certain parametric conditions, the trajectories of the QUAV chaotic system overlap and begin to match the features of the gyrostat chaotic system.