Some aspects of a complexity theory for continuous time systems

Abstract

In this paper we survey previous work by the authors defining a complexity measure for certain continuous time systems. Starting point are energy functions of a particular structure. Global minimizers of such energies correspond to solutions of a given problem, for example an equilibrium point of an ordinary differential equation. The structure of such energies is used to define complexity classes for continuous problems and to obtain completeness results for those classes. We discuss as well algorithmic aspects of minimizing energy functions. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.