Trajectories with the longest lifetime (Q954215)

The author presents an interesting controllability property, delivering a new look to the maximum principle. For usual linear control problems with \(U\) the resource set (a convex polytope in general position containing the origin in its interior) let \(W\) be the controllability region. Clearly, time-optimality of an admissible control, that transfers a point in \(W\) to the origin, holds exactly if the maximum principle is satisfied. Now Boltyanski considers points outside the closure of \(W\). The interesting property is: For every initial point outside the closure of \(W\) the trajectory emanating from it (and satisfying the maximum principle and the left transversality condition) goes to infinity most slowly, i.e., (with the words of Boltyanski) in a sense possesses the longest lifetime. The proof is given step by step using repellent sets (and the Lyapunov-function for the given differential equation). Two examples and a hint, how the results could really be applied, are added.