Symmetric synchronization behavior of multistable chaotic systems and circuits in attractive and repulsive couplings

This paper studies the synchronization behavior of multistable chaotic systems with coexisting symmetric attractors. Specifically, the focus is on the attractive and repulsive couplings of the attractors in single-variable couplings. It is shown that in the self-couplings, both attractors have the same synchronization pattern either in the attractive or repulsive coupling. In the cross-couplings, the synchronization pattern of the attractors is dependent on the variables involved in the coupling and the symmetry transformation. If the coupling scheme is defined such that only one of the variables in the coupling participates in the symmetry transformation, the synchronization patterns of the symmetric attractors are symmetric in the attractive and repulsive couplings. The master stability function is applied to four chaotic systems with different symmetry transformations to represent the results. The corresponding chaotic circuit of two coupled symmetric systems is also implemented and their symmetric responses are shown.