{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/4869"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/4869","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"A variational approach to local optimality in control theory","abstract":"A new approach to control theory is investigated in this thesis. The approach is based on a locally specified state space model of the control dynamics; together with a goal function, which defines a generalized distance from each state position to the desired equilibrium point or trajectory. A feedback control function is sought, which will result in a system response which approximates the gradient descent trajectories of the specified goal function. The approximation is chosen so that the resulting trajectories satisfy a certain local optimality criterion, involving the averaged second derivative of the goal function along the trajectories.","abstract_html":"A new approach to control theory is investigated in this thesis. The approach is based on a locally specified state space model of the control dynamics; together with a goal function, which defines a generalized distance from each state position to the desired equilibrium point or trajectory. A feedback control function is sought, which will result in a system response which approximates the gradient descent trajectories of the specified goal function. The approximation is chosen so that the resulting trajectories satisfy a certain local optimality criterion, involving the averaged second derivative of the goal function along the trajectories.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Brown, Bruce J L"],"institution":"Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Reddy, Daya","Yavin, Prof"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2001,"date_issued":"2001","date_published":"2001","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:26Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4869","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Reddy, Daya","Yavin, Prof"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Brown, Bruce J L"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-07-31T08:06:28Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-07-31T08:06:28Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2001"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Doctoral Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["PhD"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4869"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Bibliography: leaves 203-212."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["A new approach to control theory is investigated in this thesis. The approach is based on a locally specified state space model of the control dynamics; together with a goal function, which defines a generalized distance from each state position to the desired equilibrium point or trajectory. A feedback control function is sought, which will result in a system response which approximates the gradient descent trajectories of the specified goal function. The approximation is chosen so that the resulting trajectories satisfy a certain local optimality criterion, involving the averaged second derivative of the goal function along the trajectories."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A variational approach to local optimality in control theory"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Reddy, Daya","Yavin, Prof"],"dc:creator":["Brown, Bruce J L"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-07-31T08:06:28Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-07-31T08:06:28Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2001"],"dc:description":["Bibliography: leaves 203-212."],"dc:description.abstract":["A new approach to control theory is investigated in this thesis. The approach is based on a locally specified state space model of the control dynamics; together with a goal function, which defines a generalized distance from each state position to the desired equilibrium point or trajectory. A feedback control function is sought, which will result in a system response which approximates the gradient descent trajectories of the specified goal function. The approximation is chosen so that the resulting trajectories satisfy a certain local optimality criterion, involving the averaged second derivative of the goal function along the trajectories."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4869"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["A variational approach to local optimality in control theory"],"dc:type":["Doctoral Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:26Z"}