Structural Identifiability and Discrete Symmetries

Abstract: We discuss the use of symmetries for analysing the structural identifiability and observability of control systems. Special emphasis is put on the role of discrete symmetries, in contrast to the more commonly studied continuous or Lie symmetries. We argue that discrete symmetries are the origin of parameters which are structurally locally identifiable, but not globally. We exploit this fact to present a methodology for structural identifiability analysis that detects such parameters and characterizes the symmetries in which they are involved. We demonstrate the use of our methodology by applying it to four case studies.