On Global Optimality Conditions for Nonlinear Optimal Control Problems

Let a trajectory and control pair maximize globally the functional g(x(T)) in the basic optimal control problem. Then (evidently) any pair (x,u) from the level set of the functional g corresponding to the value g((T)) is also globally optimal and satisfies the Pontryagin maximum principle. It is shown that this necessary condition for global optimality of turns out to be a sufficient one under the additional assumption of nondegeneracy of the maximum principle for every pair (x,u) from the above-mentioned level set. In particular, if the pair satisfies the Pontryagin maximum principle which is nondegenerate in the sense that for the Hamiltonian H, we have along the pair on [0,T], and if there is no another pair (x,u) such that g(x(T))=g((T)), then is a global maximizer.