It is impossible to make accurate long-term predictions for how any dynamic physical system is going to behave. But even during periods of chaotic behavior, the rules of physics still apply. It is only recently that mathematicians, scientists, and engineers have developed the language and techniques to analyze the behavior of chaotic systems. Those developments have led to exploring ways to control and make use of chaotic behavior. A major new development in ideas for controlling chaos involves applying tiny disturbances to a chaotic system.
Chaotic systems have the potential to behave in many different ways.
If disturbances are applied at just the right time, the system can be made to exhibit one of its regular or more predictable behaviors. Until recently, chaos control required a complicated algorithm to determine when to apply the tiny disturbances that are used to stabilize a system. A new invention by SAIC and its collaborators produced a simpler variant of the OGY method. The Future of Chaos Control and Use SAIC is conducting research to apply the TPF control technique to very high frequency systems. The application of TPF chaos control may lead to new technologies such as highly stable semiconductor lasers for telecommunications and optical data storage.