Accurate control of hyperbolic trajectories in any dimension.

Abstract

The unsteady (nonautonomous) analog of a hyperbolic fixed point is a hyperbolic trajectory, whose importance is underscored by its attached stable and unstable manifolds, which have relevance in fluid flow barriers, chaotic basin boundaries, and the long-term behavior of the system. We develop a method for obtaining the unsteady control velocity which forces a hyperbolic trajectory to follow a user-prescribed variation with time. Our method is applicable in any dimension, and accuracy to any order is achievable. We demonstrate and validate our method by (1) controlling the fixed point at the origin of the Lorenz system, for example, obtaining a user-defined nonautonomous attractor, and (2) the saddle points in a droplet flow, using localized control which generates global transport.