Planar constant piecewise smooth vector fields with large hysteresis

Abstract

Throughout this work, we will carry out a rigorous mathematical analysis of a class of control systems that is widely used in applications but still lacks a consistent theoretical foundation for describing the types of limit sets that may arise from its dynamics. There are applications in which, for example, a treatment for a given disease is administered until the level of diseased cells falls below a prescribed threshold C1. At that point, the treatment is suspended in order to allow the patient's organism to recover from its side effects. Subsequently, when the level of diseased cells reaches a second threshold C2 bigger than C1, the treatment is resumed, and the protocol is repeated. To the best of our knowledge, there is not a mathematical classification of such models. In this paper, we initiate what is intended to become a consistent body of literature aimed at determining the limit sets of such models. We begin with the planar case, in which two linear vector fields are active and two switching boundaries are considered. Naturally, in future developments, control systems in higher dimensions, featuring additional vector fields and more general switching manifolds, should also be considered.