Phase synchronization of chaotic oscillations in terms of periodic orbits.

We consider phase synchronization of chaotic continuous-time oscillator by periodic external force. Phase-locking regions are defined for unstable periodic cycles embedded in chaos, and synchronization is described in terms of these regions. A special flow construction is used to derive a simple discrete-time model of the phenomenon. It allows to describe quantitatively the intermittency at the transition to phase synchronization. (c) 1997 American Institute of Physics.