Small-Time Local Controllability of the multi-input bilinear Schr\"odinger equation thanks to a quadratic term

TL;DR

This paper investigates small-time local controllability of multi-input bilinear Schrödinger equations, identifying specific quadratic Lie brackets that enable control recovery when linearization fails, and introduces a new proof technique inspired by the Magnus formula.

Contribution

It extends controllability results to multi-input systems and clarifies which quadratic Lie brackets recover controllability, with a novel proof approach for PDEs.

Findings

Quadratic Lie brackets with two controls enable STLC in multi-input systems.

A new proof method for PDE controllability based on a Magnus-inspired representation.

Identification of conditions under which quadratic terms recover controllability.

Abstract

The goal of this article is to contribute to a better understanding of the relations between the exact controllability of nonlinear PDEs and the control theory for ODEs based on Lie brackets, through a study of the Schr\"odinger PDE with bilinear control. We focus on the small-time local controllability (STLC) around an equilibrium, when the linearized system is not controllable. We study the second-order term in the Taylor expansion of the state, with respect to the control. For scalar-input ODEs, quadratic terms never recover controllability: they induce signed drifts in the dynamics. Thus proving STLC requires to go at least to the third order. Similar results were proved for the bilinear Schr\"odinger PDE with scalar-input controls. In this article, we study the case of multi-input systems. We clarify among the quadratic Lie brackets, those that allow to recover STLC: they are bilinear with respect to two different controls. For ODEs, our result is a consequence of Sussman's sufficient condition $S(\theta)$ (when focused on quadratic terms), but we propose a new proof, designed to prepare an easier transfer to PDEs. This proof relies on a representation formula of the state inspired by the Magnus formula. By adapting it, we prove a new STLC result for the bilinear Schr\"odinger PDE.