Hankel singular value functions from Schmidt pairs for nonlinear input–output systems

This paper presents three results in singular value analysis of Hankel operators for nonlinear input–output systems. First, the notion of a Schmidt pair is defined for a nonlinear Hankel operator. This makes it possible to define a Hankel singular value function from a purely input–output point of view and without introducing a state space setting. However, if a state space realization is known to exist then a set of sufficient conditions is given for the existence of a Schmidt pair, and the state space provides a convenient representation of the corresponding singular value function. Finally, it is shown that in a specific coordinate frame it is possible to relate this new singular value function definition to the original state space notion used to describe nonlinear balanced realizations.