  We investigate how the following properties are related to each other: i)-A
manifold is "transversally" exponentially stable; ii)-The "transverse"
linearization along any solution in the manifold is exponentially stable;
iii)-There exists a field of positive definite quadratic forms whose
restrictions to the directions transversal to the manifold are decreasing along
the flow. We illustrate their relevance with the study of exponential
incremental stability. Finally, we apply these results to two control design
problems, nonlinear observer design and synchronization. In particular, we
provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the design of nonlinear
observer and of nonlinear synchronizer with exponential convergence property.
