Open problems project

the IMA website for submission of manuscripts for the
“Open Problems in Systems and Control” project
is now active at control-theory-manuscripts-portal

We would like to invite you to help us collect a selection of open problems
in the general area of systems and control, that could motivate and inspire
the community. A kick-off for this project was initiated at the LCCC Workshop
in Lund in October 2014 and will be carried on during the academic year 2015-2016
at the IMA in Minneapolis (www.ima.umn.edu/2015-2016).

The goal of the project is to prepare a volume that will be published by the IMA.
During the workshops of the thematic year at the IMA, we will organize
discussion sections on these problems and a small prize as a recognition
to students and postdocs who present solutions. Thus, with the present
email we launch the formal submission and review process.

Each contribution of an open problem should include:

i) a clearly defined mathematical statement. (A mathematician should be able to
understand the statements and verify correctness of a solution without learning the
engineering background. Problems that may admit a yes/no answer are encouraged.)

ii) an explanation of the engineering or physical relevance and importance
of the problem.

iii) a brief analysis of why the problem is interesting and not too easy with
possibly historical and other relevant references including conjectured
or partial solutions.

Submissions should be about 3 pages long.
Models for the collection are:

Unsolved Problems in Mathematical Systems and Control Theory
V.D. Blondel and A. Megretski

Open problems in communication and computation
B. Gopinath and T.M. Cover

Submitted manuscripts will be reviewed and if accepted after this initial screening
will be posted online at the IMA website. Solutions and responses are invited to be
also submitted in a similar manner, as brief 1-3 page manuscripts, and uploaded on
the same website. Selection for inclusion into the planned volume will be deferred for after
the problems are discussed during the IMA year. Timely solutions will also be posted
and included in the volume. We also anticipate a session to discuss problems at the upcoming
International Symposium on the Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems (MTNS 2016),
in July 2016.

Open problems that pertain to the various themes of the IMA year, must be submitted
up until one month before the beginning of the corresponding workshop, so as to allow
time for reviewing and posting online before the workshop. These themes are given below:

September 28 to October 2, 2015
Workshop: Distributed Control and Decision Making Over Networks

October 19-23, 2015
Workshop: Analysis and Control of Network Dynamics

November 16-20, 2015
Workshop: Biological Systems and Networks

January 25-29, 2016
Workshop: Optimization and Parsimonious Modeling

March 14-18, 2016
Workshop: Computational Methods for Control of PDEs and Distributed Systems

April 11-15, 2016
Workshop: Quantum and Nano Control

May 9-13, 2016
Workshop: Control at Large Scales: Energy Markets and Responsive Grids

Thank you for your consideration and your help by contributing,
reviewing and discussing such a selection of open problems with us!