On a fallacious conjecture about the stabilizability properties of solutions of the Riccati difference equation

In [1], among other results, some conjectures concerning the monotonicity and stabilizing properties of solutions of the difference Riccati equation were proven to be fallacious by means of suitable counterexamples. Moreover, a ‘possibly fallacious conjecture’ was formulated for which no counterexample had been found. In this letter, such a counterexample is provided together with an interpretation of the somewhat counterintuitive behaviour of the Riccati equation.     

On the periodic solutions of the Matrix Riccati equation

We investigate the structure of the periodic orbits of timeinvariant matrix Riccati equations. Matrix Riccati equations are of critical importance in control, estimation, differential games, scattering theory, and in several other applications. It is therefore important to understand the principal features of the phase portraits of Riccati equations, such as the existence and structure of periodic solutions.     

Controllability, stabilizability, and matrix Riccati equations for periodic systems

In this note, controllability, stabilizahility, and related concepts for periodically time-varying systems are discussed. Especially, it is proved that the definition of controllability employed in connection with the existence of periodic solutions of periodic matrix Riccati equations is equivalent to Kalman's original definition.     

Existence conditions and properties for the maximal periodic solution of periodic Riccati difference equations

The existence and properties of the maximal symmetric periodic solution of the periodic Riccati difference equation, is analysed for the optimal filtering problem of linear periodic discrete-time systems. Special emphasis is given to systems not necessarily reversible and subject only to a detectability assumption. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of periodic non-negative definite solutions of the periodic Riccati difference equation which gives rise to a stable filter are also established. Furthermore, the convergence of non-negative definite solutions of the Riccati equation is investigated.     

Periodic solutions of periodic Riccati equations

For periodically time-varying matrix Riccati equations, controllability and observability (in the usual sense) are shown to be sufficient for the existence of a unique positive definite periodic solution.     

Numerical solution of the discrete-time periodic Riccati equation

In this paper we present a method for the computation of the periodic nonnegative definite stabilizing solution of the periodic Riccati equation. This method simultaneously triangularizes by orthogonal equivalences a sequence of matrices associated with a cyclic pencil formulation related to the Euler-Lagrange difference equations. In doing so, it is possible to extract a basis for the stable deflating subspace of the extended pencil, from which the Riccati solution is obtained. This algorithm is an extension of the standard QZ algorithm and retains its attractive features, such as quadratic convergence and small relative backward error. A method to compute the optimal feedback controller gains for linear discrete time periodic systems is dealt with     

Convergence properties of the Riccati difference equation in optimal filtering of nonstabilizable systems

This paper studies the convergence and properties of the solutions of the Riccati difference equation. Special emphasis is given to systems which are not necessarily stabilizable (in the filtering sense), particularly those having uncontrollable roots on the unit circle. Besides generalizing and unifying previous work, the results have application to a number of important problems including filtering and control of systems with purely deterministic disturbances such as sinusoids and drift components.     

Nonexistence of solutions to the Riccati equation

The Riccati equation does not necessarily give a positive definite solution when the plant has finite escape time in the time interval considered.     

Monotonicity and stabilizability- properties of solutions of the Riccati difference equation: Propositions, lemmas, theorems, fallacious conjectures and counterexamples

The problem considered is that of selecting an initial covariance matrix for the Kalman filter to ensure that the closed-loop filter at every subsequent time instant is exponentially asymptotically stable as a time-invariant filter. Sufficient conditions are derived based on monotonicity properties of the solution of the Riccati difference equation. The results have application in observer design, and the cases of filtering for nonstabilizable systems and systems with singular system matrices are included.     

Discrete Riccati equation solutions: Partitioned algorithms

Using the "partitioning" approach to estimation and control, robust and fast computational algorithms for the solution of discrete Riccati equations (RE) are presented. The algorithms have a decomposed or partitioned structure that results through partitioning the total computation interval into subintervals and solving for the RE in each subinterval with zero initial conditions for each subinterval Thus, effectively, the RE solution over the whole interval has been decomposed into a set of elemental piece-wise solutions which are both simple as well as completely decoupled from each other and as such computable in either a parallel or serial processing mode. Further, the overall solution is given in terms of a simple recursive operation on the elemental solutions. The partitioned algorithms are theoretically interesting as well as computationally attractive.     

Fast Riccati equation solutions: Partitioned algorithms

In this paper, using the ‘partitioning’ approach to estimation, exceptionally robust and fast computational algorithms for the effective solution of continuous Riccati equations are presented. The algorithms have essentially a decomposed or ‘partitioned’ structure which is both theoretically interesting as well as computationally attractive. Specifically, the ‘partitioned’ solution is given exactly in terms of a set of elemental solutions which are both simple as well as completely decoupled from each other, and as such computable in either a parallel or serial processing mode. Moreover, the overall solution is given by a simple recursive operation of the elemental solution. Extensive computer simulation has shown that the ‘partitioned’ algorithm is numerically very effective and robust, especially in the case of ill-conditioned Riccati solutions, e.g. for ill-conditioned initial conditions, or for stiff system matrices. Further, the ‘partitioned’ algorithm is very fast, ranging up to several orders of magnitude faster than the corresponding Runge-Kutta algorithm.     

Strong solutions of the discrete-time algebraic Riccati equation

Conditions are given under which a solution of the DARE is positive semidefinite if and only if all the eigenvalues of its associated closed-loop matrix are in the closed unit disc.     

Hermitian solutions of the discrete algebraic Riccati equation

Hermitian solutions of the discrete algebraic Riccati equation play an important role in the least-squares optimal control problem for discrete linear systems. In this paper we describe the set of hermitian solutions in various ways: in terms of factorizations of rational matrix functions which take hermitian values on the unit circle; in terms of certain invariant subspaces of a matrix which is unitary in an indefinite scalar product; and in terms of all invariant subspaces of a certain matrix. These results are inspired by known results for the algebraic Riccati equation arising in the least-squares optimal control problem for continuous linear systems.     

Remarks on the periodic orbits of the matrix Riccati equation

We investigate certain questions concerning the periodic structure of the matrix Riccati differential equation with constant coefficients. A closed-form expression for the periodic solutions is obtained for both the cases involving distinct or repeated eigenvalues in the associated linear hamiltonian system. Previous results are extended by establishing that periodic solutions are bounded if and only if the span of their range does not intersect the orthogonal complement of the controllable subspace of the associated linear system.     

Riccati differential equation in optimal filtering of periodic non-stabilizable systems

This paper discusses the periodic solutions of the matrix Riccati differential equation in the optimal filtering of periodic systems. Special emphasis is given to non-stabilizable systems and the question addressed is the existence and uniqueness of a steady-state periodic non-negative definite solution of the periodic Riccati differential equation which gives rise to an asymptotically stable steady-state filter. The results presented show that the stabilizability is not a necessary condition for the existence of such a periodic solution. The convergence of the general solution of the periodic Riccati differential equation to a periodic equilibrium solution is also investigated. The results are extensions of existing time-invariant systems results to the case of periodic systems     

Curvature properties of the algebraic Riccati equation

We prove that the solution to the algebraic Ricatti equation (ARE) is concave with respect to a nonnegative-definite symmetric state weighting matrix Q when the input weighting matrix R = R^T > 0. We also prove that the solution to the ARE is concave with respect to a positive-definite diagonal input weighting matrix R when Q = Q^T ≥ 0.