Sum of squares decomposition: theory and applications in control

The sum of squares (SOS) decomposition technique allows numerical methods such as semidefinite programming to be used for proving the positivity of multivariable polynomial functions. It is well known that it is not an easy task to find Lyapunov functions for stability analysis of nonlinear systems. An algorithmic tool is used in this work for solving this problem. This approach is presented as SOS programming and solutions were obtained with a Matlab toolbox. Simple examples of SOS concepts, stability analysis for nonlinear polynomial and rational systems with uncertainties in parameters are presented to show the use of this tool. Besides these approaches, an alternative stability analysis for switched systems using a polynomial approach is also presented.