Solvable Model of Spiral Wave Chimeras

Spiral waves are ubiquitous in two-dimensional systems of chemical or biological oscillators coupled locally by diffusion. At the center of such spirals is a phase singularity, a topological defect where the oscillator amplitude drops to zero. But if the coupling is nonlocal, a new kind of spiral can occur, with a circular core consisting of desynchronized oscillators running at full amplitude. Here we provide the first analytical description of such a spiral wave chimera, and use perturbation theory to calculate its rotation speed and the size of its incoherent core.