Control of the Lorenz system: Destroying the homoclinic orbits

The mechanisms leading to chaotic behavior in the Lorenz system are well understood. Basically, homoclinic connections induce a strange invariant set around the zero fluid motion stationary point. This set, associated with a Smale horseshoe, is in the heart of chaotic attractors. This Letter examines the application of a simple feedback controller to eliminate the chaotic behavior in a controlled Lorenz system. The main idea is to stabilize certain stationary points to destroy the homoclinic connections. In this way, stabilization of the Lorenz trajectories about non-chaotic motion is achieved. The effectivity of the feedback control strategy is illustrated by means of numerical simulations.