Controllability on infinite-dimensional manifolds

Following the unified approach of A. Kriegl and P.W. Michor (1997) for a treatment of global analysis on a class of locally convex spaces known as convenient, we give a generalization of Rashevsky-Chow's theorem for control systems in regular connected manifolds modelled on convenient (infinite-dimensional) locally convex spaces which are not necessarily normable.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Weak Liouville-Arnold Theorems & Their Implications

This paper studies the existence of invariant smooth Lagrangian graphs for Tonelli Hamiltonian systems with symmetries. In particular, we consider Tonelli Hamiltonians with n independent but not necessarily involutive constants of motion and obtain two theorems reminiscent of the Liouville-Arnold theorem. Moreover, we also obtain results on the structure of the configuration spaces of such systems that are reminiscent of results on the configuration space of completely integrable Tonelli Hamiltonians.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure; v2 corrects typo in online abstract; v3 includes new title (was: A Weak Liouville-Arnold Theorem), re-arrangement of introduction, re-numbering of main theorems; v4 updates the authors' email and physical addresses, clarifies notation in section 4. Final versio

Optimal path planning for nonholonomic robotics systems via parametric optimisation

Abstract. Motivated by the path planning problem for robotic systems this paper considers nonholonomic path planning on the Euclidean group of motions SE(n) which describes a rigid bodies path in n-dimensional Euclidean space. The problem is formulated as a constrained optimal kinematic control problem where the cost function to be minimised is a quadratic function of translational and angular velocity inputs. An application of the Maximum Principle of optimal control leads to a set of Hamiltonian vector field that define the necessary conditions for optimality and consequently the optimal velocity history of the trajectory. It is illustrated that the systems are always integrable when n = 2 and in some cases when n = 3. However, if they are not integrable in the most general form of the cost function they can be rendered integrable by considering special cases. This implies that it is possible to reduce the kinematic system to a class of curves defined analytically. If the optimal motions can be expressed analytically in closed form then the path planning problem is reduced to one of parameter optimisation where the parameters are optimised to match prescribed boundary conditions.This reduction procedure is illustrated for a simple wheeled robot with a sliding constraint and a conventional slender underwater vehicle whose velocity in the lateral directions are constrained due to viscous damping

BFV-complex and higher homotopy structures

We present a connection between the BFV-complex (abbreviation for Batalin-Fradkin-Vilkovisky complex) and the so-called strong homotopy Lie algebroid associated to a coisotropic submanifold of a Poisson manifold. We prove that the latter structure can be derived from the BFV-complex by means of homotopy transfer along contractions. Consequently the BFV-complex and the strong homotopy Lie algebroid structure are $L_{\infty}$ quasi-isomorphic and control the same formal deformation problem. However there is a gap between the non-formal information encoded in the BFV-complex and in the strong homotopy Lie algebroid respectively. We prove that there is a one-to-one correspondence between coisotropic submanifolds given by graphs of sections and equivalence classes of normalized Maurer-Cartan elemens of the BFV-complex. This does not hold if one uses the strong homotopy Lie algebroid instead.Comment: 50 pages, 6 figures; version 4 is heavily revised and extende

Tautness for riemannian foliations on non-compact manifolds

For a riemannian foliation $\mathcal{F}$ on a closed manifold $M$, it is known that $\mathcal{F}$ is taut (i.e. the leaves are minimal submanifolds) if and only if the (tautness) class defined by the mean curvature form $\kappa_\mu$ (relatively to a suitable riemannian metric $\mu$) is zero. In the transversally orientable case, tautness is equivalent to the non-vanishing of the top basic cohomology group $H^{^{n}}(M/\mathcal{F})$, where n = \codim \mathcal{F}. By the Poincar\'e Duality, this last condition is equivalent to the non-vanishing of the basic twisted cohomology group $H^{^{0}}_{_{\kappa_\mu}}(M/\mathcal{F})$, when $M$ is oriented. When $M$ is not compact, the tautness class is not even defined in general. In this work, we recover the previous study and results for a particular case of riemannian foliations on non compact manifolds: the regular part of a singular riemannian foliation on a compact manifold (CERF).Comment: 18 page

Moving constraints as stabilizing controls in classical mechanics

The paper analyzes a Lagrangian system which is controlled by directly assigning some of the coordinates as functions of time, by means of frictionless constraints. In a natural system of coordinates, the equations of motions contain terms which are linear or quadratic w.r.t.time derivatives of the control functions. After reviewing the basic equations, we explain the significance of the quadratic terms, related to geodesics orthogonal to a given foliation. We then study the problem of stabilization of the system to a given point, by means of oscillating controls. This problem is first reduced to the weak stability for a related convex-valued differential inclusion, then studied by Lyapunov functions methods. In the last sections, we illustrate the results by means of various mechanical examples.Comment: 52 pages, 4 figure

Topological and geometrical restrictions, free-boundary problems and self-gravitating fluids

Let (P1) be certain elliptic free-boundary problem on a Riemannian manifold (M,g). In this paper we study the restrictions on the topology and geometry of the fibres (the level sets) of the solutions f to (P1). We give a technique based on certain remarkable property of the fibres (the analytic representation property) for going from the initial PDE to a global analytical characterization of the fibres (the equilibrium partition condition). We study this analytical characterization and obtain several topological and geometrical properties that the fibres of the solutions must possess, depending on the topology of M and the metric tensor g. We apply these results to the classical problem in physics of classifying the equilibrium shapes of both Newtonian and relativistic static self-gravitating fluids. We also suggest a relationship with the isometries of a Riemannian manifold.Comment: 36 pages. In this new version the analytic representation hypothesis is proved. Please address all correspondence to D. Peralta-Sala

Geometric Approach to Pontryagin's Maximum Principle

Since the second half of the 20th century, Pontryagin's Maximum Principle has been widely discussed and used as a method to solve optimal control problems in medicine, robotics, finance, engineering, astronomy. Here, we focus on the proof and on the understanding of this Principle, using as much geometric ideas and geometric tools as possible. This approach provides a better and clearer understanding of the Principle and, in particular, of the role of the abnormal extremals. These extremals are interesting because they do not depend on the cost function, but only on the control system. Moreover, they were discarded as solutions until the nineties, when examples of strict abnormal optimal curves were found. In order to give a detailed exposition of the proof, the paper is mostly self\textendash{}contained, which forces us to consider different areas in mathematics such as algebra, analysis, geometry.Comment: Final version. Minors changes have been made. 56 page

Relation of a New Interpretation of Stochastic Differential Equations to Ito Process

Stochastic differential equations (SDE) are widely used in modeling stochastic dynamics in literature. However, SDE alone is not enough to determine a unique process. A specified interpretation for stochastic integration is needed. Different interpretations specify different dynamics. Recently, a new interpretation of SDE is put forward by one of us. This interpretation has a built-in Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution and shows the existence of potential function for general processes, which reveals both local and global dynamics. Despite its powerful property, its relation with classical ones in arbitrary dimension remains obscure. In this paper, we will clarify such connection and derive the concise relation between the new interpretation and Ito process. We point out that the derived relation is experimentally testable.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure