Synchronization of impulsively coupled complex networks

We investigate the synchronization of complex networks, which are impulsively coupled only at discrete instants. Based on the comparison theory of impulsive differential systems, a distributed impulsive control scheme is proposed for complex dynamical networks to achieve synchronization. The proposed scheme not only takes into account the influence of all nodes to network synchronization, which depends on the weight of each node in the network, but also provides us with a flexible method to select the synchronized state of the network. In addition, it is unnecessary for the impulsive coupling matrix to be symmetrical. Finally, the proposed control scheme is applied to a chaotic Lorenz network and Chua's circuit network. Numerical simulations are used to illustrate the validity of this control scheme. (general)