Minimum Time Problem Controlled by Affine Connection

Abstract

Geometrically, the affine connection is the main ingredient that underlies the covariant derivative, the parallel transport, the auto-parallel curves, the torsion tensor field, and the curvature tensor field on a finite-dimensional differentiable manifold. In this paper, we come up with a new idea of controllability and observability of states by using auto-parallel curves, and the minimum time problem controlled by the affine connection. The main contributions refer to the following: (i) auto-parallel curves controlled by a connection, (ii) reachability and controllability on the tangent bundle of a manifold, (iii) examples of equiaffine connections, (iv) minimum time problem controlled by a connection, (v) connectivity by stochastic perturbations of auto-parallel curves, and (vi) computing the optimal time and the optimal striking time. The connections with bounded pull-backs result in bang–bang optimal controls. Some significative examples on bi-dimensional manifolds clarify the intention of our paper and suggest possible applications. At the end, an example of minimum striking time with simulation results is presented.