Pub Date : 2026-01-06DOI: 10.1016/j.sysconle.2026.106344
Yury Orlov , Miguel Arambula , Denis Efimov
The well-known prescribed-time stabilizing design faces the need of using time-varying high gains which escape to infinity as time approaches the desired instant. In the presence of external disturbances and measurement noise, the corresponding state response is significantly amplified as well that leads to the lack of robustness in the closed-loop implementation. For eliminating this drawback, the implicit Euler discretization was recently developed for state feedback and observer design. The resulting implementation conserved desired robustness properties beyond the prescribed-time interval and also ensured bounded state dynamics in the presence of measurement noise. In the present work, the proposed robust prescribed-time design is further developed towards its output feedback extension the separation principle is not valid in this setting). The effectiveness of the design is additionally supported by numerical experiments.
{"title":"Prescribed-time output feedback for linear systems in normal form: Robustness analysis and digital implementation under measurement noise","authors":"Yury Orlov , Miguel Arambula , Denis Efimov","doi":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2026.106344","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2026.106344","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The well-known prescribed-time stabilizing design faces the need of using time-varying high gains which escape to infinity as time approaches the desired instant. In the presence of external disturbances and measurement noise, the corresponding state response is significantly amplified as well that leads to the lack of robustness in the closed-loop implementation. For eliminating this drawback, the implicit Euler discretization was recently developed for state feedback and observer design. The resulting implementation conserved desired robustness properties beyond the prescribed-time interval and also ensured bounded state dynamics in the presence of measurement noise. In the present work, the proposed robust prescribed-time design is further developed towards its output feedback extension the separation principle is not valid in this setting). The effectiveness of the design is additionally supported by numerical experiments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49450,"journal":{"name":"Systems & Control Letters","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 106344"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145898076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-05DOI: 10.1016/j.sysconle.2026.106343
Xiaolong Wang , Kejia Xu , Xiaoli Wang
We investigate balanced truncation for model order reduction of discrete time-delay systems with inhomogeneous initial conditions. The superposition principle is exploited to achieve a decomposition of the original systems, but each subsystem cannot be simplified directly via the standard balanced truncation approach. To this end, we first introduce a couple of auxiliary subsystems based on the particular structure of transfer functions, and Lyapunov matrices are defined properly for each auxiliary subsystem to facilitate the execution of balanced truncation. Two methodologies are proposed for our purpose. The first one reduces each subsystem independently by using a suitable balanced truncation procedure, and the full-order output is approximated by superposition. The second methodology is designed to conduct a balanced truncated procedure directly based on the summation of the individual Lyapunov matrices of each subsystem, leading to structure-preserving reduced models. In addition, we provide a low-rank approximation to Lyapunov matrices based on the discrete Laguerre polynomials, which enables an efficient execution of our approach. Numerical examples confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods.
{"title":"Balanced truncation for discrete time-delay systems with inhomogeneous initial conditions","authors":"Xiaolong Wang , Kejia Xu , Xiaoli Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2026.106343","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2026.106343","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate balanced truncation for model order reduction of discrete time-delay systems with inhomogeneous initial conditions. The superposition principle is exploited to achieve a decomposition of the original systems, but each subsystem cannot be simplified directly via the standard balanced truncation approach. To this end, we first introduce a couple of auxiliary subsystems based on the particular structure of transfer functions, and Lyapunov matrices are defined properly for each auxiliary subsystem to facilitate the execution of balanced truncation. Two methodologies are proposed for our purpose. The first one reduces each subsystem independently by using a suitable balanced truncation procedure, and the full-order output is approximated by superposition. The second methodology is designed to conduct a balanced truncated procedure directly based on the summation of the individual Lyapunov matrices of each subsystem, leading to structure-preserving reduced models. In addition, we provide a low-rank approximation to Lyapunov matrices based on the discrete Laguerre polynomials, which enables an efficient execution of our approach. Numerical examples confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49450,"journal":{"name":"Systems & Control Letters","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 106343"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145898075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106332
Haoshu Cheng , Yamin Yan , Tao Liu
Most studies on bearing-based formation control have been concerned with single-integrator or double-integrator multi-agent systems over static graphs. This paper extends the research to higher-order multi-agent systems over periodic switching graphs, allowing the interactions among agents to change periodically. The trajectories of leaders can take the form of trigonometric functions, polynomial functions, or their finite combinations, thereby including step and ramp functions as special cases. The followers are modeled as higher-order integrators, hence including single and double integrators as special cases. To determine the desired positions for the followers, we develop a bearing-based localization technique specifically for periodic switching graphs. Then, we propose a switched bearing-based distributed control law to stabilize the closed-loop system and drive the formation toward the target formation. Moreover, to avoid collisions during the formation evolution, we derive a sufficient condition based on the initial formation. Finally, we present a numerical example to illustrate the effectiveness of our design.
{"title":"Bearing-based formation control of higher-order multi-agent systems over periodic switching graphs","authors":"Haoshu Cheng , Yamin Yan , Tao Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106332","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106332","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Most studies on bearing-based formation control have been concerned with single-integrator or double-integrator multi-agent systems over static graphs. This paper extends the research to higher-order multi-agent systems over periodic switching graphs, allowing the interactions among agents to change periodically. The trajectories of leaders can take the form of trigonometric functions, polynomial functions, or their finite combinations, thereby including step and ramp functions as special cases. The followers are modeled as higher-order integrators, hence including single and double integrators as special cases. To determine the desired positions for the followers, we develop a bearing-based localization technique specifically for periodic switching graphs. Then, we propose a switched bearing-based distributed control law to stabilize the closed-loop system and drive the formation toward the target formation. Moreover, to avoid collisions during the formation evolution, we derive a sufficient condition based on the initial formation. Finally, we present a numerical example to illustrate the effectiveness of our design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49450,"journal":{"name":"Systems & Control Letters","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 106332"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145884467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106341
Pushkal Purohit, Anoop Jain
This paper addresses the problem of output consensus in linear passive multi-agent systems under the False Data Injection (FDI) attacks. Our formulation relies on an event-based cryptographic authentication scheme for sensor integrity and considers FDI attacks at the actuator end, inspired by their practical nature and usages. For secure consensus, we propose (i) a passivity-based approach for detecting FDI attacks on the system and (ii) a Zeno-free event-triggered observer-based switching controller, which switches between the normal and the defense modes following an attack detection. We show that the closed-loop system achieves practical consensus under the controller’s action in the defense mode. Two case studies are provided to support the theoretical findings.
{"title":"Passivity-based attack identification and mitigation via event-triggered observer feedback","authors":"Pushkal Purohit, Anoop Jain","doi":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106341","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106341","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper addresses the problem of output consensus in linear passive multi-agent systems under the False Data Injection (FDI) attacks. Our formulation relies on an event-based cryptographic authentication scheme for sensor integrity and considers FDI attacks at the actuator end, inspired by their practical nature and usages. For secure consensus, we propose (i) a passivity-based approach for detecting FDI attacks on the system and (ii) a Zeno-free event-triggered observer-based switching controller, which switches between the <em>normal</em> and the <em>defense</em> modes following an attack detection. We show that the closed-loop system achieves practical consensus under the controller’s action in the defense mode. Two case studies are provided to support the theoretical findings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49450,"journal":{"name":"Systems & Control Letters","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 106341"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145884468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106336
Meng-Yuan Lou, Hua-Cheng Zhou
In this article, we investigate the output feedback finite-time stabilization for a chaotic wave equation with a superlinear boundary condition and with boundary total disturbance. Using two boundary measurements as output signals, a disturbance estimator is designed to estimate the boundary total disturbance, ensuring finite-time convergence of the estimation error. Based on the estimated disturbance, an observer is proposed such that its state converges to the state of the original system in finite-time. Finally, via the active disturbance rejection control strategy, we derive an observer-based output feedback control law that stabilizes the system and compensates the total disturbance. The resulting closed-loop system is proven to be finite-time stable, while the disturbance estimator is bounded, which essentially improves the results of Feng (2016) and Xiang (2024). Numerical simulations are performed to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
{"title":"Finite-time stabilization for a chaos wave equation with disturbance","authors":"Meng-Yuan Lou, Hua-Cheng Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106336","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106336","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this article, we investigate the output feedback finite-time stabilization for a chaotic wave equation with a superlinear boundary condition and with boundary total disturbance. Using two boundary measurements as output signals, a disturbance estimator is designed to estimate the boundary total disturbance, ensuring finite-time convergence of the estimation error. Based on the estimated disturbance, an observer is proposed such that its state converges to the state of the original system in finite-time. Finally, via the active disturbance rejection control strategy, we derive an observer-based output feedback control law that stabilizes the system and compensates the total disturbance. The resulting closed-loop system is proven to be finite-time stable, while the disturbance estimator is bounded, which essentially improves the results of Feng (2016) and Xiang (2024). Numerical simulations are performed to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49450,"journal":{"name":"Systems & Control Letters","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 106336"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145884469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-27DOI: 10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106337
Hongru Wang, Jinzhi Wang
This paper addresses the consensus control problem for general constrained linear multiagent systems (MAS) with inter-agent communication distance limitations. A novel distributed model predictive control (DMPC) algorithm is proposed that guarantees consensus while ensuring that neighboring agents remain in a predefined range, which is formulated as coupled state constraints in the control problem. Within a leader–follower framework, the cost function of the DMPC optimization problem is carefully designed to include the tracking error with respect to the leader, the consensus error among followers, and the control input effort. By using the optimal trajectories from the previous time step as pseudo-references and introducing individual constraints, the originally coupled state constraint is transformed into decoupled local constraints for each agent, enabling a fully distributed solution. Theoretical analysis based on Lyapunov stability establishes consensus convergence and the connectivity preservation between agents is proved. Finally, simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
{"title":"Distributed model predictive consensus control for linear multiagent system with coupled state constraints","authors":"Hongru Wang, Jinzhi Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106337","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106337","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper addresses the consensus control problem for general constrained linear multiagent systems (MAS) with inter-agent communication distance limitations. A novel distributed model predictive control (DMPC) algorithm is proposed that guarantees consensus while ensuring that neighboring agents remain in a predefined range, which is formulated as coupled state constraints in the control problem. Within a leader–follower framework, the cost function of the DMPC optimization problem is carefully designed to include the tracking error with respect to the leader, the consensus error among followers, and the control input effort. By using the optimal trajectories from the previous time step as pseudo-references and introducing individual constraints, the originally coupled state constraint is transformed into decoupled local constraints for each agent, enabling a fully distributed solution. Theoretical analysis based on Lyapunov stability establishes consensus convergence and the connectivity preservation between agents is proved. Finally, simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49450,"journal":{"name":"Systems & Control Letters","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 106337"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-24DOI: 10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106335
Éva Gyurkovics , Tibor Takács
This paper investigates infinite horizon, discrete-time, non-cooperative dynamic games, where players have vector-valued payoff functions. The uncertainties of the system dynamics are modeled by deterministic functions. A new Pareto–Nash equilibrium concept is introduced, avoiding the often-applied method of scalarizing the players’ objective functions. Due to uncertainties, we define cost guaranteeing strategies, which are given in state feedback form. In the general nonlinear case, the sufficient condition of cost-guaranteeing strategies is given by Hamilton–Jacobi–Isaacs type inequalities. The result is specified for quadratic-linear games, where the uncertainties/nonlinearities are modeled by a common quadratically constrained function. The monetary–fiscal game illustrates the results.
{"title":"Pareto–Nash guaranteed cost solution for infinite horizon multiobjective non-cooperative discrete-time uncertain/nonlinear dynamic games","authors":"Éva Gyurkovics , Tibor Takács","doi":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106335","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106335","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates infinite horizon, discrete-time, non-cooperative dynamic games, where players have vector-valued payoff functions. The uncertainties of the system dynamics are modeled by deterministic functions. A new Pareto–Nash equilibrium concept is introduced, avoiding the often-applied method of scalarizing the players’ objective functions. Due to uncertainties, we define cost guaranteeing strategies, which are given in state feedback form. In the general nonlinear case, the sufficient condition of cost-guaranteeing strategies is given by Hamilton–Jacobi–Isaacs type inequalities. The result is specified for quadratic-linear games, where the uncertainties/nonlinearities are modeled by a common quadratically constrained function. The monetary–fiscal game illustrates the results.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49450,"journal":{"name":"Systems & Control Letters","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 106335"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-23DOI: 10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106330
Zhaoxin Wang, Jianchang Liu
This paper proposes a cooperative regulation strategy with the global dynamic compensation control mechanism for random communication link failures among multiple agents to address asymptotic consensus issues in time-varying nonlinear multi-agent systems. The distributed dynamic stochastic bridging compensator is established with certain elements that can be flexibly adjusted depending on different scenarios. The stochastic bridging error variables are developed, where the bridging compensator can be viewed as a bridging intermediary for asymptotically tracking both the leader and the follower. These bridging error variables continuously monitor the disparity in information states between the compensator and the agent. The global dynamic compensation control mechanism is created based on the dynamic equations of the proposed bridging error variables. The cooperative regulation strategy, consisting of the distributed stochastic bridging controller generated by the above created control mechanism, is designed and applied to achieve coordination consensus. A novel stability analysis method is formulated based on the bridging error variables to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed cooperative regulation strategy. Finally, the feasibility of the strategy is further validated through the presentation of specific cases and conducting simulation experiments.
{"title":"Cooperative regulation with global dynamic compensation control mechanism for random communication link failures among multiple time-varying nonlinear agents","authors":"Zhaoxin Wang, Jianchang Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106330","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106330","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper proposes a cooperative regulation strategy with the global dynamic compensation control mechanism for random communication link failures among multiple agents to address asymptotic consensus issues in time-varying nonlinear multi-agent systems. The distributed dynamic stochastic bridging compensator is established with certain elements that can be flexibly adjusted depending on different scenarios. The stochastic bridging error variables are developed, where the bridging compensator can be viewed as a bridging intermediary for asymptotically tracking both the leader and the follower. These bridging error variables continuously monitor the disparity in information states between the compensator and the agent. The global dynamic compensation control mechanism is created based on the dynamic equations of the proposed bridging error variables. The cooperative regulation strategy, consisting of the distributed stochastic bridging controller generated by the above created control mechanism, is designed and applied to achieve coordination consensus. A novel stability analysis method is formulated based on the bridging error variables to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed cooperative regulation strategy. Finally, the feasibility of the strategy is further validated through the presentation of specific cases and conducting simulation experiments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49450,"journal":{"name":"Systems & Control Letters","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 106330"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-22DOI: 10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106328
Zhipeng Niu , Jun Moon , Qingxin Meng
This paper investigates the optimal control problem for a class of nonlinear fully coupled forward–backward stochastic difference equations (FBSEs). Under the convexity assumption of the control domain, we establish a variational formula for the cost functional involving the Hamiltonian system and adjoint equations, deriving both necessary and sufficient optimality conditions via the Pontryagin maximum principle. Innovatively, we employ a generalized monotonicity framework to ensure the existence and uniqueness of solutions for nonlinear systems and directly derive variational inequalities through the convexity properties of the Hamiltonian function, simplifying the analysis of fully coupled systems. As an application, we formulate a linear-quadratic (LQ) optimal control problem inspired by energy storage scheduling (a real-world example) to demonstrate the effectiveness of our theoretical results. The study reveals that discrete-time FBSEs models offer significant computational advantages for practical systems with future-dependent constraints, such as power dispatch and financial decision-making, providing a new theoretical foundation for high-dimensional optimal control problems.
{"title":"Stochastic maximum principle for fully coupled nonlinear FBSΔEs under generalized monotonicity and LQ control applications","authors":"Zhipeng Niu , Jun Moon , Qingxin Meng","doi":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106328","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106328","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the optimal control problem for a class of nonlinear fully coupled forward–backward stochastic difference equations (FBS<span><math><mi>Δ</mi></math></span>Es). Under the convexity assumption of the control domain, we establish a variational formula for the cost functional involving the Hamiltonian system and adjoint equations, deriving both necessary and sufficient optimality conditions via the Pontryagin maximum principle. Innovatively, we employ a generalized monotonicity framework to ensure the existence and uniqueness of solutions for nonlinear systems and directly derive variational inequalities through the convexity properties of the Hamiltonian function, simplifying the analysis of fully coupled systems. As an application, we formulate a linear-quadratic (LQ) optimal control problem inspired by energy storage scheduling (a real-world example) to demonstrate the effectiveness of our theoretical results. The study reveals that discrete-time FBS<span><math><mi>Δ</mi></math></span>Es models offer significant computational advantages for practical systems with future-dependent constraints, such as power dispatch and financial decision-making, providing a new theoretical foundation for high-dimensional optimal control problems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49450,"journal":{"name":"Systems & Control Letters","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 106328"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-22DOI: 10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106326
Haoyu Yin, Xudong Chen, Bruno Sinopoli
Replicator dynamics have been widely used in evolutionary game theory to model how strategy frequencies evolve over time in large populations. The so-called payoff matrix encodes the pairwise fitness that each strategy obtains when interacting with every other strategy, and it solely determines the replicator dynamics. If the payoff matrix is unknown, we show in this paper that it cannot be inferred from observed strategy frequencies alone — distinct payoff matrices can induce the same replicator dynamics. We thus look for a canonical representative of the payoff matrix in the equivalence class. The main result of the paper is to show that for every polynomial replicator dynamics (i.e., the vector field is a polynomial), there always exists a skew-symmetric, polynomial payoff matrix that can induce the given dynamics.
{"title":"On zero-sum game representation for replicator dynamics","authors":"Haoyu Yin, Xudong Chen, Bruno Sinopoli","doi":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106326","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sysconle.2025.106326","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Replicator dynamics have been widely used in evolutionary game theory to model how strategy frequencies evolve over time in large populations. The so-called payoff matrix encodes the pairwise fitness that each strategy obtains when interacting with every other strategy, and it solely determines the replicator dynamics. If the payoff matrix is unknown, we show in this paper that it cannot be inferred from observed strategy frequencies alone — distinct payoff matrices can induce the same replicator dynamics. We thus look for a canonical representative of the payoff matrix in the equivalence class. The main result of the paper is to show that for every polynomial replicator dynamics (i.e., the vector field is a polynomial), there always exists a skew-symmetric, polynomial payoff matrix that can induce the given dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49450,"journal":{"name":"Systems & Control Letters","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 106326"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}