We consider an array of nonlocally coupled oscillators on a ring, which for equally spaced units possesses a Kuramoto–Battogtokh chimera regime and a synchronous state. We demonstrate that disorder in oscillators positions leads to a transition from the synchronous to the chimera state. For a static (quenched) disorder we find that the probability of synchrony survival depends on the number of particles, from nearly zero at small populations to one in the thermodynamic limit. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the synchrony gets destroyed for randomly (ballistically or diffusively) moving oscillators. We show that, depending on the number of oscillators, there are different scalings of the transition time with this number and the velocity of the units.

• Received 8 April 2021
• Revised 5 July 2021
• Accepted 4 August 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.104.034205