Leader-following Consensus over Jointly Connected Switching Networks is Achievable for Exponentially Unstable Linear Systems

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Chen, Yuhan, Liu, Tao, Huang, Jie
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Chen, Yuhan
Liu, Tao
Huang, Jie
author_facet Chen, Yuhan
Liu, Tao
Huang, Jie
contents The leader-following consensus problem for general linear multi-agent systems over jointly connected switching networks has been a challenging problem and the solvability of the problem has been limited to the class of linear multi-agent systems whose system matrix is marginally stable. This condition is restrictive since it even excludes the most commonly used double-integrator system. This paper presents a breakthrough by demonstrating that leader-following exponential consensus is achievable for general linear multi-agent systems over jointly connected switching networks, even when the system matrix is exponentially unstable. The degree of instability can be explicitly characterized by two key quantities that arise from the jointly connected condition on a switching graph. By exploiting duality, we further show that the output-based distributed observer design problem for a general leader system is solvable over jointly connected switching networks, even when the system matrix is exponentially unstable. This is also in sharp contrast to the existing distributed observers, which rely on the assumption that the leader system is marginally stable.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_07975
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Leader-following Consensus over Jointly Connected Switching Networks is Achievable for Exponentially Unstable Linear Systems
Chen, Yuhan
Liu, Tao
Huang, Jie
Optimization and Control
Multiagent Systems
Systems and Control
The leader-following consensus problem for general linear multi-agent systems over jointly connected switching networks has been a challenging problem and the solvability of the problem has been limited to the class of linear multi-agent systems whose system matrix is marginally stable. This condition is restrictive since it even excludes the most commonly used double-integrator system. This paper presents a breakthrough by demonstrating that leader-following exponential consensus is achievable for general linear multi-agent systems over jointly connected switching networks, even when the system matrix is exponentially unstable. The degree of instability can be explicitly characterized by two key quantities that arise from the jointly connected condition on a switching graph. By exploiting duality, we further show that the output-based distributed observer design problem for a general leader system is solvable over jointly connected switching networks, even when the system matrix is exponentially unstable. This is also in sharp contrast to the existing distributed observers, which rely on the assumption that the leader system is marginally stable.
title Leader-following Consensus over Jointly Connected Switching Networks is Achievable for Exponentially Unstable Linear Systems
topic Optimization and Control
Multiagent Systems
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.07975