An Introduction To Piecewise Smooth Dynamics Paul Glendinning Updated 2025
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Advanced Courses in Mathematics CRM Barcelona
Paul Glendinning
Mike R. Jeffrey
An Introduction
to Piecewise
Smooth Dynamics
Advanced Courses in Mathematics
CRM Barcelona
Managing Editor:
Enric Ventura
An Introduction to Piecewise
Smooth Dynamics
Editors for this volume:
Elena Bossolini, Technical University of Denmark
J. Tomás Lázaro, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Josep M. Olm, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Paul Glendinning Mike R. Jeffrey
School of Mathematics Department of Engineering Mathematics
University of Manchester University of Bristol
Manchester, UK Bristol, UK
Mathematics Subject Classification (2010): 34A36, 34C23, 37E05, 37G10, 37E35, 37G35
This book is published under the imprint Birkhäuser, www.birkhauser-science.com by the registered company
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Foreword
v
Contents
Introduction 1
1 Piecewise-smooth Flows
by Mike R. Jeffrey 3
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 History and applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Inclusions and combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4 Types of dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.5 Switching layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.6 Multiple switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.7 Codimension r switching layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
1.8 Codimension r sliding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.9 Boundary equilibrium bifurcations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.10 Stability, equivalence, and bifurcation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1.11 Discontinuity-induced phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
1.12 Determinacy-breaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
1.13 Hidden attractors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
1.14 Hidden bifurcations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
1.15 Moving forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2 Piecewise-smooth Maps
by Paul Glendinning 55
2.1 Introduction to maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.2 Smooth theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.3 Piecewise-smooth maps of the interval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.4 Lorenz maps and rotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
2.5 Gluing bifurcations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
2.6 Piecewise-smooth maps of the plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
2.7 Periodic orbits and resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
2.8 Robust chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
2.9 Two-dimensional attractors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
2.10 Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Bibliography 123
vii
Introduction
The study of nonsmooth dynamics has a long history, but has been recently en-
livened by the introduction of new techniques, the discovery of new phenomena,
and the explosion of new practical disciplines applying nonsmooth dynamical mod-
eling. The more formal name for our field is piecewise-smooth dynamics, concern-
ing the theory and applications of how dynamical systems that are smooth almost
everywhere behave when affected by discontinuities at isolated thresholds.
This volume presents an informal course at graduate level, aimed at mathe-
maticians, scientists, and engineers, studying models that involve a discontinuity,
or studying the theory of nonsmooth systems for its own sake. These notes are de-
rived from lectures given at the Advanced School on Piecewise-Smooth Dynamical
Systems, organized at the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (Bellaterra, Catalonia),
during April 11–15, 2016. The School was organized with support from the Engi-
neering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Societat Catalana
de Matemàtiques (SCM), WIRIS, and the Institute for Mathematics and its Appli-
cations (IMA). The course comes in two parts: flows and maps (or continuous and
discrete time systems). Each part introduces the applications and main theoretical
techniques, of piecewise-smooth dynamics, some long-established and others newly
emerging.
An introduction to the dynamics of piecewise-smooth flows is authored by
Mike Jeffrey. The chapter starts with a few key points in the history and applica-
tions of discontinuities from mechanics and control systems, and some of the key
figures in setting up a general theory for differential equations with ‘discontinuous
right-hand sides’. The methods of inclusions versus combinations are discussed,
after which we introduce the elementary dynamics of crossing and sliding at a
discontinuity surface. The analytical methods of switching layers and layer vari-
ables are presented for one switch and then for multiple switches. The concepts of
discontinuity-induced phenomena and determinacy breaking are introduced, along
with the definitions of stability, equivalence, and bifurcation in piecewise-smooth
flows. We end by introducing some of the novel attractors and bifurcations that
offer a hint at what remains to be discovered, including the present state of zoology
of singularities in the plane.
An introduction to the dynamics of piecewise-smooth maps is authored by
Paul Glendinning. After a discussion of why piecewise-smooth maps are inter-
1
2 Introduction
esting, the course moves into their phenomenology, and reviews some techniques
from smooth theory. The main topics are then: basic stability analysis, piece-
wise monotonic maps of the interval, rotation-like maps, gluing bifurcations (aka
Big Bang bifurcations and period-adding), an introduction to renormalization,
decomposition theorems and a brief guide to kneading theory, piecewise-smooth
maps of the plane including the Lozi and border collision normal forms, piecewise
isometries, bounding regions, periodic orbits and resonance, robust chaos, and
two-dimensional attractors. The course concludes with a discussion of challenges
in higher dimensions, particularly concerning periodic orbits, N -dimensional at-
tractors, and analogies with smooth cases.
Piecewise-smooth Flows
1.1 Introduction
This course is about the geometry of piecewise-smooth dynamical systems. The
solutions of a system of ordinary differential equations, such as
ẋ = f (x ), (1.1)
where x = (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) is some n-dimensional vector or variable, and f is an
n-dimensional vector field, can be pictured as trajectories (or orbits) in space (for
example, Rn or some subset of it). Those trajectories are organized by various
singularities, separatrices, and invariant sets, whose geometry can be studied in
great generality. A loss of continuity in the differential equations greatly adds to
the richness of that geometry.
.
or x vector field
parameters x2
dx = f(x,a,b,...)
dt state, dependent variable x1
time, independent variable
switching
surface
Figure 1.1: The vector field f tells us the velocity with which some flow evolves
through a state x . If the flow is non-differentiable, then f is discontinuous.
The mathematician Alexei Fedorovich Filippov set out methods for solving
piecewise-smooth differential equations, and these have been adopted as standard.
Recently, however, with the discovery of new singularities and singular phenomena,
we have understood that more is needed. This series of lectures will provide readers
with the tools to delve more deeply into the world of nonsmooth dynamics.
We will focus on:
geometry of piecewise-smooth vector fields,
general methods for solving and analysing them,
their key notions of stability and bifurcations.
Some important current topics that we will not cover, but you may wish to
look up, include:
special cases: e.g., piecewise linear or continuous non-differentiable vector
fields, hybrid/impact systems;
modeling non-idealities: e.g., smoothing, noise, delay, etc., and the various
types of ‘regularization’, a word that comes up a lot as an open problem in
current piecewise-smooth systems.
You may also want to look into simulation methods: piecewise-smooth sys-
tems require special consideration when simulating. There are event detection
routines built into Matlab and Mathematica. There are ways of making continua-
tion tools like AUTO or MatCont work with discontinuities (often by smoothing
them out), including the AUTO-derived TcHat. Filippov’s solving methods (we’ll
discuss these in the course) have even been built into tools like Mathematica. But
these are not up-to-date in the many advances in theory that we have seen in the
last decade. Use them all with care and critical judgement.
f2 f1 f1
f2
f− f+
f3 f4 f4
f3
Figure 1.2: Discontinuities along one threshold in two dimensions, two thresholds
in two dimenions, and two thresholds in three dimensions.
Locally, solutions take certain simple forms. Away from the switching surface
they will be smooth unique curves, thanks to the existence and uniqueness of
solutions of differentiable dynamical systems. At the surface, however, they might
cross through the discontinuity, or they might slide along it, following a sliding
vector field.
crossing sliding
The switching surface has a lower dimension than the surrounding space, so
if sliding occurs, the space the solutions occupy changes, see fig. 1.4. This results
in non-uniqueness. When sliding is:
attractive, solutions stick to the switching surface, and then many solutions
will all evolve onto the same trajectory in forward time. The history of any
point (shown in the left part of fig. 1.4) in attractive sliding is therefore
non-unique — this is common in physics as mechanical ‘sticking’.
repulsive, solutions escape a switching surface, and then the sliding mode has
many possible future trajectories (shown in the right part of fig. 1.4). The
future of any point in repulsive sliding is therefore non-unique — determinacy
is broken.
The only other things we must add to these are the elementary singularities.
In differentiable vector fields, the commonly encountered singularity is a steady
state or ‘equilibrium’, where f = 0 in a system ẋ = f . At a discontinuity we
encounter a new kind of steady state, a sliding equilibrium, fig. 1.5, (called a
6 Chapter 1. Piecewise-smooth Flows
sticking determinacy-breaking
Figure 1.4: Sliding along the switching surface leads to sticking (if attractive) or
determinacy-breaking (if repulsive).
Keeping these few elements in mind will be of great assistance in gaining some
intuition for the (at first strange) terrain of what we have come to call informally:
Nonsmoothland.
1.2. History and applications 7
in 1785 Coulomb added clarity and depth to the former theories, especially
those of da Vinci and Amontons;
in 1950 Bowden and Tabor clarified the role of contact area and surface
roughness, showing that friction does depend on the true contact area, which
is often less than the apparent contact area (i.e., the full contact surface);
1950 and into the present, the field of Tribology remains active, studying
speed-dependence and friction memory, the different friction characteristics
at different scales of length, time, or speed, and remains important, for ex-
ample, to the health, automotive, and energy industries.
This is a very fleeting description, meant only to highlight the complexity of a
contact force that we use and interact with every moment of every day. The most
enduring part of this story — that friction depends principally on load only — is
encapsulated in the now commonly adopted law
. .
x x
right left
μNFN slip slip μNFN
v v
Figure 1.7: The switching force of friction.
.
x
incoming
.
−rx
recoil
Figure 1.8: The discontinuity in velocity resulting from impact with a hard wall.
Because this mixes up continuous and discrete time evolution, it crosses the
divide between the two chapters of this course, and opens the way to study of
the incredibly general field of sytems that are hybrids of maps and flows (see, e.g.,
[12, 21, 99]), which we will not delve in to here (another example of a hybrid
system is cellular mitosis: a cellular organism grows continuously until it triggers
a discrete change in mass corresponding to mitosis; see, e.g., [27]).
However, usually a map just represents a jump through some fast continuous
interval of motion. In the case above, the restitution map ẋ ↦ −rẋ represents a
jump through a continuous impact phase. Alternatively we could model this as
⎧
⎪
⎪1 if x > c,
mẍ = f − k step(x − c), step(x − c) = ⎨ (1.5)
⎪
⎪0 if x < c,
⎩
introducing a large wall stiffness k. This now has continuous time solutions that
are non-differentiable at x = c, and falls back under our topic of piecewise-smooth
flows.
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