Computation of Polytopic Invariants for Polynomial Dynamical Systems using Linear Programming

This paper deals with the computation of polytopic invariant sets for polynomial dynamical systems. An invariant set of a dynamical system is a subset of the state space such that if the state of the system belongs to the set at a given instant, it will remain in the set forever in the future. Polytopic invariants for polynomial systems can be verified by solving a set of optimization problems involving multivariate polynomials on bounded polytopes. Using the blossoming principle together with properties of multi-affine functions on rectangles and Lagrangian duality, we show that certified lower bounds of the optimal values of such optimization problems can be computed effectively using linear programs. This allows us to propose a method based on linear programming for verifying polytopic invariant sets of polynomial dynamical systems. Additionally, using sensitivity analysis of linear programs, one can iteratively compute a polytopic invariant set. Finally, we show using a set of examples borrowed from biological applications, that our approach is effective in practice

Controller Synthesis for Robust Invariance of Polynomial Dynamical Systems using Linear Programming

In this paper, we consider a control synthesis problem for a class of polynomial dynamical systems subject to bounded disturbances and with input constraints. More precisely, we aim at synthesizing at the same time a controller and an invariant set for the controlled system under all admissible disturbances. We propose a computational method to solve this problem. Given a candidate polyhedral invariant, we show that controller synthesis can be formulated as an optimization problem involving polynomial cost functions over bounded polytopes for which effective linear programming relaxations can be obtained. Then, we propose an iterative approach to compute the controller and the polyhedral invariant at once. Each iteration of the approach mainly consists in solving two linear programs (one for the controller and one for the invariant) and is thus computationally tractable. Finally, we show with several examples the usefulness of our method in applications

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Analysis and Control of Polynomial Dynamical Systems

Cette thèse présente une étude des systèmes dynamiques polynomiaux motivée à la fois par le grand spectre d'applications de cetteclasse (modèles de réactions chimiques, modèles de circuits électriques ainsi que les modèles biologiques) et par la difficulté (voire incapacité)de la résolution théorique de tels systèmes. Dans une première partie préliminaire, nous présentons les polynômes multi-variés et nous introduisons les notions de forme polaire d'un polynôme (floraison) et de polynômes de Bernstein qui seront d'un grand intérêt par la suite. Dans une deuxième partie, nous considérons le problème d'optimisation polynomial dit POP. Nous décrivons dans un premier temps les principales méthodes existantes permettant de résoudre ou d'approcher la solution d'un tel problème. Puis, nous présentons deux relaxations linéaires se basant respectivement sur le principe de floraison ainsi que les polynômes de Bernstein permettant d'approcher la valeur optimale du POP. La dernière partie de la thèse sera consacré aux applications de nos deux méthodes de relaxation dans le cadre des systèmes dynamiques polynomiaux. Une première application s'inscrit dans le cadre de l'analyse d'atteignabilité: en effet, on utilisera notre relaxation de Bernsteinpour pouvoir construire un algorithme permettant d'approximer les ensembles atteignables d'un système dynamique polynomial discrétisé. Une deuxième application sera la vérification et le calcul d'invariants pour un système dynamique polynomial. Une troisième application consiste à calculer un contrôleur et un invariant pour un système dynamique polynomial soumis à des perturbations. Dans le contexte de l'invariance, on utilisera la relaxation se basant sur le principe de floraison.Enfin, une dernière application sera d'exploiter les principales propriétés de la forme polaire pour pouvoir étudier des systèmes dynamiques polynomiaux dans des rectangles.This thesis presents a study of polynomial dynamical systems motivated by both thewide spectrum of applications of this class (chemical reaction models, electrical modelsand biological models) and the difficulty (or inability) of theoretical resolutionof such systems.In a first preliminary part, we present multivariate polynomials and we introducethe notion of polar form of a polynomial (blossoming) and Bernstein polynomialswhich will be of great interest thereafter.In a second part, we consider the polynomial optimization problem said POP.We first describe existing methods allowing us to solve or approximate the solution5TABLE DES MATI`ERES 6of such problems. Then, we present two linear relaxations based respectively on theblossoming principle and the Bernstein polynomials allowing us to approximate theoptimal value of the POP.The last part of the thesis is devoted to applications of the two relaxation methodsin the context of polynomial dynamical systems. A first application is in thecontext of reachability analysis. In fact, we use our Bernstein relaxation in order tobuild an algorithm allowing us to approximate the reachable sets of a discretizedpolynomial dynamical system. A second application deals with the verification andthe computation of invariants for polynomial dynamical systems. A third applicationconsists in calculating a controller and an invariant for a polynomial dynamicalsystem subject to disturbances. For the invariance problem, we use the relaxationbased on the blossoming principle. Finally, the last application consists in exploitingthe main properties of the polar form in order to study polynomial dynamicalsystems in rectangles

Analyse et contrôle des systèmes dynamiques polynomiaux

This thesis presents a study of polynomial dynamical systems motivated by both thewide spectrum of applications of this class (chemical reaction models, electrical modelsand biological models) and the difficulty (or inability) of theoretical resolutionof such systems.In a first preliminary part, we present multivariate polynomials and we introducethe notion of polar form of a polynomial (blossoming) and Bernstein polynomialswhich will be of great interest thereafter.In a second part, we consider the polynomial optimization problem said POP.We first describe existing methods allowing us to solve or approximate the solution5TABLE DES MATI`ERES 6of such problems. Then, we present two linear relaxations based respectively on theblossoming principle and the Bernstein polynomials allowing us to approximate theoptimal value of the POP.The last part of the thesis is devoted to applications of the two relaxation methodsin the context of polynomial dynamical systems. A first application is in thecontext of reachability analysis. In fact, we use our Bernstein relaxation in order tobuild an algorithm allowing us to approximate the reachable sets of a discretizedpolynomial dynamical system. A second application deals with the verification andthe computation of invariants for polynomial dynamical systems. A third applicationconsists in calculating a controller and an invariant for a polynomial dynamicalsystem subject to disturbances. For the invariance problem, we use the relaxationbased on the blossoming principle. Finally, the last application consists in exploitingthe main properties of the polar form in order to study polynomial dynamicalsystems in rectangles.Cette thèse présente une étude des systèmes dynamiques polynomiaux motivée à la fois par le grand spectre d'applications de cetteclasse (modèles de réactions chimiques, modèles de circuits électriques ainsi que les modèles biologiques) et par la difficulté (voire incapacité)de la résolution théorique de tels systèmes. Dans une première partie préliminaire, nous présentons les polynômes multi-variés et nous introduisons les notions de forme polaire d'un polynôme (floraison) et de polynômes de Bernstein qui seront d'un grand intérêt par la suite. Dans une deuxième partie, nous considérons le problème d'optimisation polynomial dit POP. Nous décrivons dans un premier temps les principales méthodes existantes permettant de résoudre ou d'approcher la solution d'un tel problème. Puis, nous présentons deux relaxations linéaires se basant respectivement sur le principe de floraison ainsi que les polynômes de Bernstein permettant d'approcher la valeur optimale du POP. La dernière partie de la thèse sera consacré aux applications de nos deux méthodes de relaxation dans le cadre des systèmes dynamiques polynomiaux. Une première application s'inscrit dans le cadre de l'analyse d'atteignabilité: en effet, on utilisera notre relaxation de Bernsteinpour pouvoir construire un algorithme permettant d'approximer les ensembles atteignables d'un système dynamique polynomial discrétisé. Une deuxième application sera la vérification et le calcul d'invariants pour un système dynamique polynomial. Une troisième application consiste à calculer un contrôleur et un invariant pour un système dynamique polynomial soumis à des perturbations. Dans le contexte de l'invariance, on utilisera la relaxation se basant sur le principe de floraison.Enfin, une dernière application sera d'exploiter les principales propriétés de la forme polaire pour pouvoir étudier des systèmes dynamiques polynomiaux dans des rectangles

Control of polynomial dynamical systems on rectangles

International audienceIn this paper we focus on a particular class of nonlinear dynamical systems given by polynomial vector fields in rectangular domains (boxes). This is a generalization of the work of Belta and Habets dealing with multi-affine dynamical systems on rectangles. The main idea is to use the blossoming principle which allows us to relate our polynomial dynamical system to a multi-affine one. This technique allows us to establish sufficient conditions for invariance of a rectangle or exit of a rectangle through a given facet. We extend these results to handle control synthesis. Finally, we show how our approach can be used to solve motion planning problem

Iterative computation of polyhedral invariants sets for polynomial dynamical systems

International audienceThis paper deals with the computation of polyhedral positive invariant sets for polynomial dynamical systems. A positive invariant set is a subset of the state-space such that if the initial state of the system belongs to this set, then the state of the system remains inside the set for all future time instances. In this work, we present a procedure that constructs an invariant set, iteratively, starting from an initial polyhedron that forms a “guess” at the invariant. At each iterative step, our procedure attempts to prove that the given polyhedron is a positive invariant by setting up a non-linear optimization problem for each facet of the current polyhedron. This is relaxed to a linear program through the use of the blossoming principle for polynomials. If the current iterate fails to be invariant, we attempt to use local sensitivity analysis using the primal-dual solutions of the linear program to push its faces outwards/inwards in a bid to make it invariant. Doing so, however, keeps the face normals of the iterates fixed for all steps. In this paper, we generalize the process to vary the normal vectors as well as the offsets for the individual faces. Doing so, makes the procedure completely general, but at the same time increases its complexity. Nevertheless, we demonstrate that the new approach allows our procedure to recover from a poor choice of templates initially to yield better invariants