Simple Verification and Implementation of Observer Error Dynamics Linearization: A Pascal's Triangle--Hessian Matrix Criterion

Abstract

The classical theory of nonlinear observer error linearization---the nonlinear observer canonical form---has attracted sustained attention since its inception in the 1980s. Under the existing theoretical framework, the verification and construction for a nonlinear system to achieve observer error linearization admits a systematic, efficient implementation, severely limiting the applicability of the theory to high-dimensional systems. To address this issue, inspired by the definition of high-order fully measured systems, this paper proposes the Pascal-Hessian condition for single-output systems. This condition equivalently converts the necessary and sufficient condition for observer error linearization into a structural test on the Hessian matrix of the nonlinear term in high-order fully measured systems: the coefficients in the upper-left corner of Hessian matrix form a Pascal's triangle, while the lower-right corner vanishes identically. Simultaneously, we provide explicit integral formulas for all output-dependent univariate functions in the canonical form, eliminating the need to solve partial differential equations. Compared with the existing theory, our method reduces the computational complexity of condition verification from $O(n^4)$ to $O(n^2)$, and replaces the intricate process of solving partial differential equations with explicit indefinite integral for canonical form construction. We further extend the result to multi-output systems with equal observability indices. Beyond its computational advantages, this work reveals a fundamental structural connection between the nonlinear observer canonical form and Pascal's triangle---a link that has remained unnoticed since the inception of the theory in the 1980s. Numerical examples validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.