Recurrence quantification analysis of chimera states

•Chimera states have been found in various physical systems.•Recurrence plots is a graphical method useful to locate recurring patterns.•We used recurrence plots to identify the chimera states.•We show also the recurrence plots can identify the chimera collapse.

Chimera states, characterised by coexistence of coherence and incoherence in coupled dynamical systems, have been found in various physical systems, such as mechanical oscillator networks and Josephson-junction arrays. We used recurrence plots to provide graphical representations of recurrent patterns and identify chimera states. Moreover, we show that recurrence plots can be used as a diagnostic of chimera states and also to identify the chimera collapse.