Kink-Driven Chimera Motion with Quantized Velocity in a Chain of Interacting Particles

We investigate chimera synchronization of internal oscillator states in a ring of interacting particles, using the damped dc-driven Frenkel–Kontorova chain model as an example. In a system with a spatially periodic potential, a dc external force, and dissipation, kinks spontaneously emerge and stabilize. We show that these kinks induce and govern a collective motion of the entire chimera pattern of internal states along the ring. In particular, the average velocity of this motion depends linearly on the number of kink pairs. This number is effectively determined by localized initial perturbations of particle positions, thereby opening a pathway for controlling macroscopic transport through microscopic excitations.