Control methods for localization of nonlinear waves.

A general form of a distributed feedback control algorithm based on the speed-gradient method is developed. The goal of the control is to achieve nonlinear wave localization. It is shown by example of the sine-Gordon equation that the generation and further stable propagation of a localized wave solution of a single nonlinear partial differential equation may be obtained independently of the initial conditions. The developed algorithm is extended to coupled nonlinear partial differential equations to obtain consistent localized wave solutions at rather arbitrary initial conditions.This article is part of the themed issue 'Horizons of cybernetical physics'.