On analysis and control of interconnected finite- and infinite-dimensional physical systems

This thesis is aimed at the analysis, control and simulation of complex physical systems from different domains. We use the recently developed framework of port-Hamiltonian systems which formalizes the interconnection structure of the system through a geometric object called a Dirac structure. It represents the system dynamics as a generalized Hamiltonian system and provides powerful tools for analysis and control. In this book we discuss three main issues, namely interconnections of systems from different physical domains, control of systems by interconnection, and spatial discretization of infinite-dimensional port-Hamiltonian systems.