Finite Time and Exact Time Controllability on Compact Manifolds

It is first shown that a smooth controllable system on a compact manifold is finite time controllable. The technique of proof is close to the one of Sussmann's orbit theorem, and no rank condition is required. This technique is also used to give a new and elementary proof of the equivalence between controllability for essentially bounded inputs and for piecewise constant ones. Two sufficient conditions for controllability at exact time on a compact manifold are then stated. Some applications, in particular to linear systems on Lie groups, are provided.