Unifying HJB and Riccati equations: A Koopman operator approach to nonlinear optimal control

Abstract: This paper proposes an operator-theoretic framework that recasts the minimal value function of a nonlinear optimal control problem as an abstract bilinear form on a suitable function space. The resulting bilinear form is shown to satisfy an operator equation with quadratic nonlinearity obtained by formulating the Lyapunov equation for a Koopman lift of the optimal closed-loop dynamics to an infinite-dimensional state space. It is proven that the minimal value function admits a rapidly convergent sum-of-squares expansion, a direct consequence of the fast spectral decay of the bilinear form. The framework thereby establishes a natural link between the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman and a Riccati-like operator equation and further motivates numerical low-rank schemes.