A thorough mathematical analysis of controllability problems with a detailed investigation of methods for solving them numerically.

This book studies observation and control operators for linear systems where the free evolution of the state can be described by an operator semigroup on a Hilbert space. It includes a large number of examples coming mostly from partial differential equations.

The text's broad coverage includes parabolic PDEs; hyperbolic PDEs of first and second order; fluid, thermal, and structural systems; delay systems; PDEs with third and fourth derivatives in space (including variants of linearized Ginzburg-Landau, Schrodinger, Kuramoto-Sivashinsky, KdV, beam, and Navier-Stokes equations); real-valued as well as complex-valued PDEs; stabilization as well as motion planning and trajectory tracking for PDEs; and elements of adaptive control for PDEs and control of nonlinear PDEs.

This volume contains a selection of articles based on lectures delivered at the IMA 2001 Summer Program on Geometric Methods in Inverse Problems and PDE Control. The articles are focused around a set of common tools used in the study of inverse coefficient and control problems for PDEs and related differential geometric problems. This book will serve as an excellent starting point for researchers wanting to pursue studies at the intersection of these mathematically exciting and practically important subjects.