The connection between computability of a nonlinear problem and its linearization: the Hartman-Grobman theorem revisited

Abstract

As one of the seven open problems in the addendum to their 1989 book Computability in Analysis and Physics Pour-El and Richards (1989)[17], Pour-El and Richards asked, "What is the connection between the computability of the original nonlinear operator and the linear operator which results from it?" Yet at present, systematic studies of the issues raised by this question seem to be missing from the literature. In this paper, we study one problem in this direction: the Hartman-Grobman linearization theorem for ordinary differential equations (ODEs). We prove, roughly speaking, that near a hyperbolic equilibrium point x(0) of a nonlinear ODE (x) over dot = f(x), there is a computable homeomorphism H such that H circle phi = L circle H, where phi is the solution to the ODE and L is the solution to its linearization (x) over dot = Df (x(0)) x. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia; EU FEDER POCTI/POCI via SQIG - Instituto de Telecomunicacoes through the FCT [PEst-OE/EEI/LA0008/2011