Following the recent developments in the field of absolute stability, Professor Xiaoxin Liao, in conjunction with Professor Pei Yu, has created a second edition of his seminal work on the subject. Liao begins with an introduction to the Lurie problem and the Lurie control system, before moving on to the simple algebraic sufficient conditions for the absolute stability of autonomous and non-autonomous ODE systems, as well as several special classes of Lurie-type systems. The focus of the book then shifts toward the new results and research that have appeared in the decade since the first edition was published. This includes nonlinear control systems with multiple controls, interval control systems, time-delay and neutral Lurie control systems, systems described by functional differential equations, the absolute stability for neural networks, as well as applications to chaos control and chaos synchronization.

This book is aimed at undergraduates and lecturers in the areas of applied mathematics, nonlinear control systems and chaos control and synchronisation, but may also be useful as a reference work for researchers and engineers. The book is self-contained, though a basic knowledge of calculus, linear system and matrix theory, and ordinary differential equations is required to gain a complete understanding of the workings and methodologies discussed within.