Output feedback stabilization for 1-D wave equation with variable coefficients and non-collocated observation (Q826772)

The authors consider a feedback stabilization problem for a 1-D wave equation with spatially varying elasticity and density coefficients. A vertical force (assumed to be proportional to the displacement) at the left end of the unit interval renders the system unstable. By means of a control force on the right boundary, the system is to be stabilized. The method proposed by the authors consists of the following steps. First, an invertible transformation is applied to the system such that an equivalent (almost) constant coefficient undamped wave equation is obtained. For the transformed system, a classical backstepping based observer is designed which is subsequently used to construct an output-feedback controller that stabilizes the transformed system. Due to the equivalence of the invertible transformation this also implies stabilization of the original, spatially varying, wave equation. A numerical example is used to illustrate the main theoretical findings.