Adaptive Synchronization of Coupled Chaotic Oscillators

We experimentally demonstrate and numerically simulate an adaptive method to maintain synchronization between coupled nonlinear chaotic oscillators, when the coupling between the systems is unknown and time-varying (e.g., due to environmental parameter drift). The technique is applied to optoelectronic feedback loops exhibiting high-dimensional chaotic dynamics. In addition to keeping the two systems isochronally synchronized in the presence of a priori unknown time-varying coupling strength, the technique provides an estimate of the time-varying coupling.