Exponentially stabilizing finite-dimensional controllers for linear distributed parameter systems

The Galerkin method is presented as a way to develop finite-dimensional controllers for linear distributed parameter systems (DPS). The direct approach approximates the open-loop DPS and then generates the controller from this approximation; the indirect approach approximates the infinite-dimensional stabilizing controller. The indirect approach is shown to converge to the stable closed-loop system consisting of DPS and infinite-dimensional controller; conditions are presented on the behavior of the Galerkin method for the open loop DPS which guarantee closed-loop stability for large enough finite-dimensional approximations.