Feedback linearization and driftless systems (Q1891659)

The authors introduce the definition of an immersion of a (smooth) control system into another, a purely differential-geometric notion in the field of Pfaffian systems. Then they prove that a system is feedback linearizable if and only if it is immersed in a controllable linear system (in fact, a more general proposition is established). The case of driftless systems is studied using the previous results.