In this paper we consider three different synchronization problems consisting
in designing a nonlinear feedback unidirectional coupling term for two
(possibly chaotic) dynamical systems in order to drive the trajectories of one
of them, the slave system, to a reference trajectory or to a prescribed
neighborhood of the reference trajectory of the second dynamical system: the
master system. If the slave system is chaotic then synchronization can be
viewed as the control of chaos; namely the coupling term allows to suppress the
chaotic motion by driving the chaotic system to a prescribed reference
trajectory. Assuming that the entire vector field representing the velocity of
the state can be modified, three different methods to define the nonlinear
feedback synchronizing controller are proposed: one for each of the treated
problems. These methods are based on results from the small parameter
perturbation theory of autonomous systems having a limit cycle, from nonsmooth
analysis and from the singular perturbation theory respectively. Simulations to
illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained results are also presented.Comment: To appear in Dyn. Contin. Discrete Impuls. Syst., Ser. A, Math. Ana
