A probabilistic algorithm to test local algebraic observability in polynomial time

The following questions are often encountered in system and control theory. Given an algebraic model of a physical process, which variables can be, in theory, deduced from the input-output behavior of an experiment? How many of the remaining variables should we assume to be known in order to determine all the others? These questions are parts of the \emph{local algebraic observability} problem which is concerned with the existence of a non trivial Lie subalgebra of the symmetries of the model letting the inputs and the outputs invariant. We present a \emph{probabilistic seminumerical} algorithm that proposes a solution to this problem in \emph{polynomial time}. A bound for the necessary number of arithmetic operations on the rational field is presented. This bound is polynomial in the \emph{complexity of evaluation} of the model and in the number of variables. Furthermore, we show that the \emph{size} of the integers involved in the computations is polynomial in the number of variables and in the degree of the differential system. Last, we estimate the probability of success of our algorithm and we present some benchmarks from our Maple implementation.Comment: 26 pages. A Maple implementation is availabl

Involution and Constrained Dynamics I: The Dirac Approach

We study the theory of systems with constraints from the point of view of the formal theory of partial differential equations. For finite-dimensional systems we show that the Dirac algorithm completes the equations of motion to an involutive system. We discuss the implications of this identification for field theories and argue that the involution analysis is more general and flexible than the Dirac approach. We also derive intrinsic expressions for the number of degrees of freedom.Comment: 28 pages, latex, no figure

Binomial D-modules

We study quotients of the Weyl algebra by left ideals whose generators consist of an arbitrary Z^d-graded binomial ideal I along with Euler operators defined by the grading and a parameter in C^d. We determine the parameters for which these D-modules (i) are holonomic (equivalently, regular holonomic, when I is standard-graded); (ii) decompose as direct sums indexed by the primary components of I; and (iii) have holonomic rank greater than the generic rank. In each of these three cases, the parameters in question are precisely those outside of a certain explicitly described affine subspace arrangement in C^d. In the special case of Horn hypergeometric D-modules, when I is a lattice basis ideal, we furthermore compute the generic holonomic rank combinatorially and write down a basis of solutions in terms of associated A-hypergeometric functions. This study relies fundamentally on the explicit lattice point description of the primary components of an arbitrary binomial ideal in characteristic zero, which we derive in our companion article arxiv:0803.3846.Comment: This version is shorter than v2. The material on binomial primary decomposition has been split off and now appears in its own paper arxiv:0803.384

Formal Solutions of a Class of Pfaffian Systems in Two Variables

In this paper, we present an algorithm which computes a fundamental matrix of formal solutions of completely integrable Pfaffian systems with normal crossings in two variables, based on (Barkatou, 1997). A first step was set in (Barkatou-LeRoux, 2006) where the problem of rank reduction was tackled via the approach of (Levelt, 1991). We give instead a Moser-based approach. And, as a complementary step, we associate to our problem a system of ordinary linear singular differential equations from which the formal invariants can be efficiently derived via the package ISOLDE, implemented in the computer algebra system Maple.Comment: Keywords: Linear systems of partial differential equations, Pfaffian systems, Formal solutions, Moser-based reduction, Hukuhara- Turritin normal for