Algebraic Riccati Tensor Equations with Applications in Multilinear Control Systems

In a recent paper by Chen et al. [8], the authors initiated the control-theoretic study of a class of discrete-time multilinear time-invariant (MLTI) control systems, where system states, inputs, and outputs are all tensors endowed with the Einstein product. They established criteria for fundamental system-theoretic notions such as stability, reachability, and observability through tensor decomposition. Building on this new research direction, the purpose of our paper is to extend the study to continuous-time MLTI control systems. Specifically, we define Hamiltonian tensors and symplectic tensors, and we establish the Schur-Hamiltonian tensor decomposition and the symplectic tensor singular value decomposition (SVD). Based on these concepts, we propose the algebraic Riccati tensor equation (ARTE) and demonstrate that it has a unique positive semidefinite solution if the system is stabilizable and detectable. To find numerical solutions to the ARTE, we introduce a tensor-based Newton method. Additionally, we establish the tensor versions of the bounded real lemma and the small gain theorem. A first-order robustness analysis of the ARTE is also conducted. Finally, we provide a numerical example to illustrate the proposed theory and algorithms.