An introduction to the synchronization of chaotic systems: coupled skew tent maps

In this tutorial paper, various phenomena linked to the synchronization of chaotic systems are discussed using the simple example of two coupled skew tent maps. The phenomenon of locally riddled basins of attraction is explained using the Lyapunov exponents transversal to the synchronization manifold. The skew tent maps are coupled in two different ways, leading to quite different global dynamic behavior especially when the ideal system is perturbed by parameter mismatch or noise. The linear coupling leads to intermittent desynchronization bursts of large amplitude, whereas for the nonlinear coupling the synchronization error is asymptotically uniformly bounded.