Partial synchronization in coupled chemical chaotic oscillators

In this paper we investigate the problem of partial synchronization in diffusively coupled chemical chaotic oscillators with zero-flux boundary conditions. The dynamical properties of the chemical system which oscillates with Uniform Phase evolution, yet has Chaotic Amplitudes (UPCA) are first discussed. By combining numerical and analytical methods, the impossibility of full global synchronization in a network of two or three Coupled chemical oscillators is discovered. Mathematically, stable partial synchronization corresponds to convergence to a linear invariant manifold of the global state space. The sufficient conditions for exponential stability of the invariant manifold in a network of three coupled chemical oscillators are obtained via the nonlinear contraction principle. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.