Structural Stability - Definition

Definition

Let G be an open domain in Rn with compact closure and smooth (n−1)-dimensional boundary. Consider the space X1(G) consisting of restrictions to G of C1 vector fields on Rn that are transversal to the boundary of G and are inward oriented. This space is endowed with the C1 metric in the usual fashion. A vector field F ∈ X1(G) is weakly structurally stable if for any sufficiently small perturbation F₁, the corresponding flows are topologically equivalent on G: there exists a homeomorphism h: G → G which transforms the oriented trajectories of F into the oriented trajectories of F₁. If, moreover, for any ε > 0 the homeomorphism h may be chosen to be C0 ε-close to the identity map when F₁ belongs to a suitable neighborhood of F depending on ε, then F is called (strongly) structurally stable. These definitions extend in a straightforward way to the case of n-dimensional compact smooth manifolds with boundary. Andronov and Pontryagin originally considered the strong property. Analogous definitions can be given for diffeomorphisms in place of vector fields and flows: in this setting, the homeomorphism h must be a topological conjugacy.

It is important to note that topological equivalence is realized with a loss of smoothness: the map h cannot, in general, be a diffeomorphism. Moreover, although topological equivalence respects the oriented trajectories, unlike topological conjugacy, it is not time-compatible. Thus the relevant notion of topological equivalence is a considerable weakening of the naïve C1 conjugacy of vector fields. Without these restrictions, no continuous time system with fixed points or periodic orbits could have been structurally stable. Weakly structurally stable systems form an open set in X1(G), but it is unknown whether the same property holds in the strong case.