EE 515 Nonlinear systems: stability and

control

Uddipan Barooah
(S19026)

May 4, 2022
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Region of Attraction (R.O.A)

The numerous methods proposed for estimating the Region of Asymptotic Stability (RAS) (or
region of attraction) of an equilibrium point of a nonlinear system may be divided in two main
classes: [1]

a) Lyapunov methods.

b) Non-Lyapunov methods.

The first method to get the region of attraction using Lyapunov method was solved by Zubov
[2]. Zubov theorem states the necessary and sufficient conditions for a certain region to be the
RAS of an equilibrium point.
The Non-Lyapnuov includes methods which do not explicitly employ Lyapunov functions.

Zubov’s Theorem [3]

Theorem : Let 0 be an equilibrium point of ẋ = f (x(t)). Let S ⊂ Rn be the domain containing

the origin. Suppose there exists a continuously differentiable function V : S → R and h : Rn → R
with the following properties:

(1) V is continuously differentiable and positive definite in S and satisfies

0 < V (x) < 1, ∀x ∈ S − {0}

(2) As x approaches the boundary of S, or in case of unbounded S as ∥x∥ → ∞, lim V (x) = 1

(3) h is continuous and positive definite on Rn .

(4) For x ∈ S, V (x) satisfies the partial differential equation

∂V
f (x) = −h(x)[1 − V (x)]
∂x

Show that x = 0 is asymptotically stable and S is the region of attraction.

Proof. From the statement (1), it is clear that in the neighborhood of the origin for a ball Bϵ (0),
V (x) > 0 and from the statement (3) and (4), it is clear that V̇ < 0. Hence, 0 is locally
asymptotically stable within the domain of attraction S.
To verify that S is the domain of attraction, we need to show that x(0) ∈ S implies that x(t) → 0

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as t → ∞ and x(0) ∈
/ S implies that x(t) ↛ 0 as t → ∞.
Let us consider x(0) ∈ S. Let us choose r ∈ (0, 1] such that

Br = {x ∈ S | ∥x∥ ≤ r}

Let α = min∥x∥=r V (x). Thus, α > 0. Let us take β ∈ (0, α) such that

Ωβ = {x ∈ Br | V (x) ≤ β}

Then, Ωβ is in the interior of Br . Since Ωβ ⊂ S, thus Ωβ is bounded.

Now, V̇ < 0 on Ωβ (from (4)), i.e.

V̇ (x(t)) < 0 ⇒ V (x(t)) < V (x(0)) ≤ β < 1, ∀t ≥ 0

it is clear that Ωβ forms a positively invariant set.

Again, if V̇ = 0, then h(x) = 0 (from (4)), which further implies that x = 0. Thus, by Le Salle’s
Theorem, the only solution that can stay identically in the largest invariant set M is 0. Thus,
x(t) → 0 as t → ∞. Thus, S is the region of attraction.

For the system ẋ = f (x), the Zubov’s method has 2 advantages for stability analysis:
(i) Provides deterministic method to find Lyapunov functions for nonlinear systems, as contrary
to the usual procedure of guessing the Lyapunov function.
(ii) Provides a method to exactly determine the stability region/ region of attraction/ basin of
attraction.

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Example

1) Find the ROA of the below system using Zubov’s and Lyapunov’s method.

ẋ1 = −x1 + 2x21 x2

ẋ2 = −x2

Solution: Let us define a continuously differentiable and positive definite function V as

V = 1 − w1 (x1 )w2 (x2 ). (from statement (1)).
Let us define a positive definite function as h(x) = x21 + x22 defined on R2 (from statement (3))
Now, from statement (4), we have:

V̇ = −h(x)[1 − V (x)]

∂V ∂V
∴0= x˙1 + x˙2 + h(x)[1 − V (x)]
∂x1 ∂x2
∂w1 ∂w2
⇒− x˙1 w2 − x˙2 w1 + (x21 + x22 )[w1 w2 ] = 0
∂x1 ∂x2
∂w1 ∂w2
⇒− w2 (−x1 + 2x21 x2 ) − w1 (−x2 ) + (x21 + x22 )[w1 w2 ] = 0
∂x1 ∂x2
∂w1 ∂w1 ∂w2
⇒ w2 x 1 − 2w2 x21 x2 + w1 x2 + (x21 + x22 )(w1 w2 ) = 0
∂x1 ∂x1 ∂x2
   
∂w2 ∂w1 ∂w1
⇒ w1 x 2 + w2 x2 + w2 x1 − 2x1 x2 + w1 x1 = 0
∂x2 ∂x1 ∂x1
The L.H.S will be equal to 0 if we substitute

∂w1 ∂w1
− 2x1 x2 = −w1 x1
∂x1 ∂x1
∂w2
= −w2 x2
∂x2

From the first equation, we have:

∂w1
(1 − 2x1 x2 ) = −w1 x1
∂x1
∂w1 x1
= ∂x1
∂x1 2x2 x1 − 1

Now, by further calculation, and after integrating the above equation, we obtain:

2
w1 = e−x1 /2(1−x1 x2 )

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Similarly, integrating the second equation, we have:

∂w2
= −w2 x2
∂x2
−x22
ln w2 =
2
−x22 /2
w2 = e

Thus, we obtain the positive definite Lyapunov obtained as

V = 1 − w1 w2
2 2
= 1 − e−(x2 /2)−x1 /2(1−x1 x2 )

Here, it is seen that the Lyapunov function V is positive definite and satisfies 0 < V (x) < 1 for
|x1 x2 | < 1.
Thus, V is defined over the domain S = {|x1 x2 | < 1} that satisfies the statement (2) i.e. V (x) → 1
as x → ∂S, where ∂S represents the boundary of the stability domain i.e. ∂S = {x : x1 x2 = 1}.
Thus, the domain S = {x : |x1 x2 | < 1} is the region of attraction for the given system. The
region of attraction for the Lyapunov function V (x) is shown in Fig. 1

Fig. 1. Region of attraction by Zubov (3D plot)

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Fig. 2 represents the domain of attraction in 2D.

Fig. 2. Region of attraction by Zubov (2D plot)

ẋ1 = −x1 + 2x21 x2

ẋ2 = −x2

Solution: Here x = 0 is an equilibrium point. Now, from Variable Gradient approach, we have:
Let us assume
" # " #  
∂V k1 k x1 ∂g1 ∂g2
= g(x) = Note: = =k
∂x k k2 x2 ∂x2 ∂x1
| {z }
symmetric matrix

Further, let us assume

" # " #
∂V g1 (x) k 1 x1

= = Taking k = 0 ⇒ g(x) will be diagonal symmetrical matrix
∂x g2 (x) k 2 x2

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Now, we have:
Z x1 Z x2
V (x) = g1 (x̃1 , 0) dx̃1 + g2 (x1 , x̃2 ) dx̃2
0 0
Z x1 Z x2
= k1 x̃1 dx̃1 + k2 x̃2 dx̃2
0 0
1
k1 x21 + k2 x22


=
2

We choose k1 , k2 > 0 ⇒ V (x) > 0, ∀x ̸= 0 and V (0) = 0. Thus, V (x) is a Lyapunov function
candidate. Now, we have:
" #
h i −x1 + 2x21 x2
V̇ (x) = g T (x)f (x) = k1 x1 k2 x2
−x2
= −k2 x22 + 2k1 x31 x2 − k1 x21
= −k2 x22 − k1 x21 (1 − 2x1 x2 )

Let us choose k1 = k2 = 1. Then

V̇ (x) = −x22 − x21 (1 − 2x1 x2 )

Thus V̇ < 0 ∀ |x1 x2 | < 21 . Thus the origin is asymptotically stable defined over the domain D
as D = |x1 x2 | < 0.5.
The estimate of the region of attraction (c) is obtained by the general Lyapunov method as:

V (x) < c where c = min V (x)

|x1 x2 |=0.5
1 2
x1 + x22


= min
|x1 x2 |=0.5 2

By Lagrange multiplier method, we obtain c = 0.5.

Thus, the set Ωc where Ωc = {x ∈ R2 | V (x) < 0.5} is the estimate of the region of attraction for
the system.
The region of attraction for the Lyapunov function V (x) is shown in Fig. 3

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Fig. 3. Region of attraction in 3D

The estimate of the region of attraction in 2D plot is shown in Fig. 4

Fig. 4. Region of attraction in 2D

Comparison

a) From the region of attraction obtained by both the methods, it can be concluded that the
Zubov’s method is more dominant as it shows a bigger domain of attraction rather than
using an estimate of the region of attraction as mentioned by Lyapunov.

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b) For different L.F. the region of attraction obtained can also be different. As seen from
above, the Zubov’s method of obtaining the L.F. is more prominent than using the Variable
Gradient method.

References
[1] R. Genesio and A. Vicino, “New techniques for constructing asymptotic stability regions for
nonlinear systems,” IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 574-581,
June 1984.

[2] W. Hahn, “Stability of motion”, vol. 138, Berlin: Springer, 1967.

[3] V. I. Zubov, “Methods of A.M. Lyapunov and Their Application,” Noordhoff, Groningen,
The Netherlands, 1964.

[4] A. Vannelli and M. Vidyasagar, “Maximal Lyapunov functions and domains of attraction for
autonomous nonlinear systems,” Automatica, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 69-80, 1985.

[5] H. K. Khalil, “Nonlinear Systems”, Pearson, Third edition, 2002.

[6] H.J. Marquez, “Nonlinear control systems: analysis and design,” Wiley, 2003.