Necessary optimality conditions in the small for degenerate hyperbolic distributed-parameter control systems

The degenerate case of multivariable hyperbolic distributed-parameter systems (systems of hyperbolic partial differential equations) in time coordinate t and space coordinate x is characterized by a property that all the characteristic curves of the state equations are parallel to the coordinate axes of independent variables. It is a disturbing fact, although not well known, that the so-called maximum principle as applied to these systems does not exist for the control that depend on time alone. In this paper, however, it is shown that a set of necessary conditions in the small can exist for unconstrained as well as magnitude constrained controls in a locally convex set. The necessary conditions thus derived can be used conveniently to find the optimal control for degenerate hyperbolic distributed-parameter control systems.