2022/10/03 by William R. Clark, Clark, William, Maria Oprea +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies #FOS: Mathematics #Optimization and Control (math.OC) #Quantum Mechanics and Applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2210.01056
openalex publication_date 2022/10/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A unique feature of hybrid dynamical systems (systems whose evolution is subject to both continuous- and discrete-time laws) is Zeno trajectories. Usually these trajectories are avoided as they can cause incorrect numerical results as the problem becomes ill-conditioned. However, these are difficult to justifiably avoid as determining when and where they occur is a non-trivial task. It turns out that in optimal control problems, not only can they not be avoided, but are sometimes required in synthesizing the solutions. This work explores the pedagogical example of the bouncing ball to demonstrate the importance of "Zeno control executions."