Feedback control of canards

Abstract

We present a control mechanism for tuning a fast-slow dynamical system undergoing a supercritical Hopf bifurcation to be in the canard regime, the tiny parameter window between small and large periodic behavior. Our control strategy uses continuous feedback control via a slow control variable to cause the system to drift on average toward canard orbits. We apply this to tune the FitzHugh-Nagumo model to produce maximal canard orbits. When the controller is improperly configured, periodic or chaotic mixed-mode oscillations are found. We also investigate the effects of noise on this control mechanism. Finally, we demonstrate that a sensor tuned in this way to operate near the canard regime can detect tiny changes in system parameters.