Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering

Abstract: Port-Hamiltonian (pH) systems have gained extreme popularity in the last 3 decades in different fields. As examples, mathematicians use pH formulations to assess well-posedeness of partial differential equations, data-scientists and numerical engineers exploit pH formulations to develop structure-preserving integrators, physicist acknowledge pH theory as an insightful extension of Hamiltonian dynamics, and system theorists use pH formulations for modelling and control purposes.

PH theory is being studied by different communities from different angles and at different levels of abstraction. As examples, some see pH systems as particular cases of differential equations with inputs, and some identify pH systems with abstract underlying geometric structures which are hard to grasp without a formal mathematical training.

This plurality of vision in understanding pH systems, as well as the relatively young age of the topic, can cause confusion in scientists and engineers approaching the topic.

This seminar will provide a synthesis of the deep meaning of pH systems, general enough to embrace the plurality of ways the topic can be approached, and focalised enough to transmit the common seed constituting the hearth of pH theory.