A smooth Conley-Lyapunov function for hybrid inclusions on \(\mathbb{R}^n\) (Q6930740)

This paper provides a rigorous construction of smooth Conley-Lyapunov functions for hybrid inclusions on \(\mathbb{R}^n\). The authors consider both an invariant compact set and the basin of attraction of an attractor, establishing the existence of a \(C^{\infty}\) function that strictly decreases outside the chain-recurrent part of the set, as characterized by Lyapunov inequalities.\N\NThe work extends existing Conley-type decomposition results -- originally developed for continuous flows -- to the setting of hybrid inclusions, which combine differential and difference inclusions with state constraints. The proofs are technically sophisticated, carefully handling the summation of infinitely many smooth Lyapunov-like functions while preserving smoothness and inequality conditions. A notable application is given in Section 4, where the authors use the constructed Lyapunov function to analyze the convergence of bounded solutions of a discrete-time simulator with square-summable step sizes, showing convergence to the chain-recurrent part of the attractor.\N\NOverall, this work provides a valuable addition to the theory of smooth Lyapunov functions for hybrid dynamics, with constructive proofs and a non-trivial application to numerical approximations. It will be of interest to both theorists and those working on computational or applied aspects of hybrid systems.