Observability of Nonlinear Systems

We consider the observability of systems of the form = Ax +Nx, y = Fx, where A is a linear operator and N and F are nonlinear.We show that if the system is linearized about an equilibriumpoint x_e and the linearized system is continuously initiallyobservable, then the nonlinear system is continuously initiallyobservable in some neighbourhood of x_e. We then look at conditionsunder which solutions of the nonlinear system can be extendedfor all time and consider the problem of stabilizing the systemby feedback controls such that the solutions are eventuallyin the observability neighbourhood of x_e. Finally, we applythese ideas to two systems: a wave equation and a diffusionequation with nonlinear perturbations and nonlinear observations.