Chaotic synchronization in small assemblies of driven Chua's circuits

Chaotic synchronization is studied in experiments performed on dynamic arra ys of Chua's circuits that are connected by using a recently introduced dri ving method especially suited for the design of such arrays. Namely; the dr iven circuit has the same number of energy storage elements as the driving circuit. The experimental results, which are supported by theoretical analy sis, are different depending on the geometric arrangement of the array, In the case of linear arrays, the first circuit always imposes its behavior to the rest of the chain at a finite velocity, Instead, in the case of ring g eometries, the chaotic synchronized state is only stable up to a certain si ze of the ring. Beyond this critical size a desynchronizing bifurcation occ urs, leading to a chaotic rotating wave that travels through the array, Thi s instability is explained by performing an analysis in terms of modes.