On Interconnections of Infinite-dimensional Port-Hamiltonian Systems

Network modeling of complex physical systems leads to a class of nonlinear systems called port-Hamiltonian systems, which are defined with respect to a Dirac structure (a geometric structure which formalizes the power-conserving interconnection structure of the system). A power conserving interconnection of Dirac structures is again a Dirac structure. In this paper we study interconnection properties of mixed finite and infinite dimensional port-Hamiltonian systems and show that this interconnection again defines a port-Hamiltonian system. We also investigate which closed-loop port-Hamiltonian systems can be achieved by power conserving interconnections of finite and infinite dimensional port-Hamiltonian systems. Finally we study these results with particular reference to the transmission line.