Interconnections and symmetries of linear differential systems (Q1842530)

This paper is devoted to studying the central problems of control in the context of linear systems with symmetries. The main question attempted to be solved is: ``Is it possible to control a system which has a certain symmetry in order to achieve control objectives, such as stability, without `symmetry breaking'?'' The considerations, the methods used here belong to the area of the so-called behavioral approach to system investigation developed successfully in the past decade by J. C. Willems and his group. This very general methodology consists in analysing the system behavior using advanced methods of abstract mathematics such as algebra. The authors present first an introductory example where the role of symmetry is highlighted. Next, they remind preliminary facts concerning differential behaviors. In the sequel, the authors deal with symmetries of differential behaviors, interconnections, symmetric interconnections and symmetrization.