Stability analysis of nonlinear dynamical systems using conley index theory

In this paper, we use Conley index theory to develop necessary and sufficient conditions for stability of equilibrium and periodic solutions of nonlinear continuous-time, discrete-time, and impulsive dynamical systems. The Conley index is a topological generalization of Morse theory which has been developed to analyze dynamical systems using topological methods. In particular, the Conley index of an invariant set with respect to a dynamical system is defined as the relative homology of an index pair for the invariant set. The Conley index can then be used to examine the structure of the system invariant set as well as the system dynamics within the invariant set, including system stability properties. Efficient numerical algorithms using homology theory have been developed in the literature to compute the Conley index and can be used to deduce the stability properties of nonlinear dynamical systems.