Cost and Effects of Pinning Control for Network Synchronization

In this paper, the problem of pinning control for synchronization of complex dynamical networks is discussed. A cost function of the controlled network is defined by the feedback gain and the coupling strength of the network. An interesting result is that lower cost is achieved by the control scheme of pinning nodes with smaller degrees. Some rigorous mathematical analysis is presented for achieving lower cost in the synchronization of different star-shaped networks. Numerical simulations on some non-regular complex networks generated by the Barabasi-Albert model and various star-shaped networks are shown for verification and illustration.