SUPPRESSED AND INDUCED CHAOS BY NEAR-RESONANT PERTURBATION OF BIFURCATIONS

We present experimental results which demonstrate for the first time that the onset of chaos in a nonlinear system can be either suppressed or induced by the application of a perturbation signal which is near resonant to a subharmonic of the fundamental system frequency. The technique represents a feedback independent method for stabilizing or destabilizing chaotic orbits. Shifts in the onset of chaos are demonstrated for perturbation signals which are near resonant to the period-2 orbit and the period-4 orbit of the experimental system. © 1995 The American Physical Society.