Applied Nonlinear Dynamics (SS 2019) - Exercise 2: Linear Dynamics

Dr. Alexander Schaum

Chair of Automatic Control, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel

1. Consider a dynamical system in (x, y)-coordinates. Show that in polar coordinates, the correspond-
ing dynamics can be determined using the relations (cp. e.g. [1])

xẏ − y ẋ
rṙ = xẋ + y ẏ, θ̇ = .
r2

2. Show that for any 2 × 2-matrix A the eigenvalues are given by the relation
1 p 
λ12 = tr(A) ± tr(A)2 − 4det(A)
2
where tr(A) is the trace and det(A) the determinant of the matrix A.

3. For the following example systems, determine the transformation into diagonal, Jordan or real Jor-
dan normal form, solve the system in normal form and apply the back transformation to obtain the
solution in the original (x1 , x2 )-coordinates. Compare the solutions with numerical approximations
using some standard ode-solver.
 
−4 2
a) ẋ = x
−3 1
 
−1 1
b) ẋ = x
−1 −1
 
−2 1
c) ẋ = x
−1 −4
 
2 0
d) ẋ = x
5 −1

What can you say about stability in each case?

4. Consider the linear control system
   
1 2 0
ẋ = x+ u, x(0) = x0 .
0 1 1
| {z } |{z}
A b

Determine the eigenvalues and eigenvector(s) of the dynamic matrix A. Design a state-feedback
control u = −kT x with k ∈ R2 such that the eigenvalues of the feedback matrix A − bkT are given
by λ1 = −1 and λ2 = −2. What are the eigenvectors of the modified dynamics matrix A − bkT ?
What happens to the eigenvector structure when k is chosen such that both eigenvalues are the
same, say λ1 = λ2 = −3?

References
[1] S. H. Strogatz. Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, with applications to physics, biology, chemistry, and
engineering. Perseus, Massachusetts,, 1994.