A canonical form and solution for the matrix Riccati differential equation

Abstract A canonical form of the self-adjoint Matrix Riccati Differential Equation with constant coefficients is obtained in terms of extremal solutions of the self-adjoint Matrix Riccati Algebraic (steady-state) Equations. This form is exploited in order to obtain a convenient explicit solution of the transient problem. Estimates of the convergence rate to the steady state are derived.