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Concept
Linear system
Summary
In systems theory, a linear system is a mathematical model of a system based on the use of a linear operator.
Linear systems typically exhibit features and properties that are much simpler than the nonlinear case.
As a mathematical abstraction or idealization, linear systems find important applications in automatic control theory, signal processing, and telecommunications. For example, the propagation medium for wireless communication systems can often be
modeled by linear systems.
A general deterministic system can be described by an operator, H, that maps an input, x(t), as a function of t to an output, y(t), a type of black box description.
A system is linear if and only if it satisfies the superposition principle, or equivalently both the additivity and homogeneity properties, without restrictions (that is, for all inputs, all scaling constants and all time.)
The superposition principle means that a linear combination of inputs to the system produces a linear combination of the individual zero-state outputs (that is, outputs setting the initial conditions to zero) corresponding to the individual inputs.
In a system that satisfies the homogeneity property, scaling the input always results in scaling the zero-state response by the same factor. In a system that satisfies the additivity property, adding two inputs always results in adding the corresponding two zero-state responses due to the individual inputs.
Mathematically, for a continuous-time system, given two arbitrary inputs
as well as their respective zero-state outputs
then a linear system must satisfy
for any scalar values α and β, for any input signals x1(t) and x2(t), and for all time t.
The system is then defined by the equation H(x(t)) = y(t), where y(t) is some arbitrary function of time, and x(t) is the system state. Given y(t) and H, the system can be solved for x(t).
The behavior of the resulting system subjected to a complex input can be described as a sum of responses to simpler inputs. In nonlinear systems, there is no such relation.
Official source
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