Modelling dynamical systems using manifest and latent variables

The behavioral approach provides a mathematical language for the modelling of systems, particularly dynamical systems. An introduction to behaviors is given, with emphasis to interconnected systems. This is viewed as consisting of modules, combined with an interconnection architecture. The latter is formalized as a graph with leaves. The elimination theorem is discussed. This allows to obtain behavioral equations involving only manifest variables, starting from models that contain also latent variables. Subsequently, the notions of controllability and observability are cast in this setting. (C) 2000 IMACS. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.