Dr Bjorn Ruffer

IEEE Three similar convergence notions are considered. Two of them are the long established notions of convergent dynamics and incremental stability. The other is the more recent notion of contraction analysis. All three convergence notions require that all solutions of a system converge to each other. In this paper, we investigate the differences between these convergence properties for discrete-time, time-varying nonlinear systems by comparing the properties in pairs and using examples. We also demonstrate a time-varying smooth Lyapunov function characterization for each of these convergence notions. In addition, with appropriate assumptions, we provide several sufficient conditions to establish relationships between these properties in terms of Lyapunov functions.

A monotone self-mapping of the nonnegative orthant induces a monotone discrete-time dynamical system which evolves on the same orthant. If with respect to this system the origin is attractive then there must exist points whose image under the monotone map is strictly smaller than the original point, in the component-wise partial ordering. Here it is shown how such points can be found numerically, leading to a recipe to compute order intervals that are contained in the region of attraction and where the monotone map acts essentially as a contraction. An important application is the numerical verification of so-called generalized small-gain conditions that appear in the stability theory of large-scale systems. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.