Smooth converse Lyapunov-barrier theorems for asymptotic stability with safety constraints and reach-avoid-stay specifications (Q2165975)

In this paper, the authors provide a unified theoretical treatment of Lyapunov and barrier functions in terms of converse theorems for stability properties with safety and reach-avoid-stay type specifications. They show that if a system, modeled as a dynamical system with measurable perturbations, possesses a stability with safety property, then there exists a smooth Lyapunov function to certify such a property. This Lyapunov function is shown to be defined on the entire set of initial conditions from which the stability with safety specification is satisfied. A slightly weaker statement is made for reach-avoid-stay specifications. Furthermore, the authors extend the results for systems with control inputs, proving the existence of converse Lyapunov-barrier functions for reach-and-avoid specifications. The converse Lyapunov-barrier theorems are not constructive, as with classical converse Lyapunov theorems. Anyway, alongside the theoretical interest, the authors hope that their results can give some insights for computational approaches,