Let Q be a positive-definite symmetric m×m matrix. Show that a non-negative quadratic form on Rd×Rm of the form
c(x,a)=xTRx+xTSTa+aTSx+aTQa,x∈Rd,a∈Rm
is minimized over a, for each x, with value xT(R−STQ−1S)x, by taking a=Kx, where K=−Q−1S.
Consider for k⩽n the controllable stochastic linear system in Rd
Xj+1=AXj+BUj+εj+1,j=k,k+1,…,n−1,
starting from Xk=x at time k, where the control variables Uj take values in Rm, and where εk+1,…,εn are independent, zero-mean random variables, with var(εj)=Nj. Here, A,B and Nj are, respectively, d×d,d×m and d×d matrices. Assume that a cost c(Xj,Uj) is incurred at each time j=k,…,n−1 and that a final cost C(Xn)=XnTΠ0Xn is incurred at time n. Here, Π0 is a given non-negative-definite symmetric matrix. It is desired to minimize, over the set of all controls u, the total expected cost Vu(k,x). Write down the optimality equation for the infimal cost function V(k,x).
Hence, show that V(k,x) has the form
V(k,x)=xTΠn−kx+γk
for some non-negative-definite symmetric matrix Πn−k and some real constant γk. Show how to compute the matrix Πn−k and constant γk and how to determine an optimal control.