THE INDEX OF GENERAL NONLINEAR DAES

In the last few years there has been considerable research on differential algebraic equations (DAEs) F(t,y,y')= 0 where F-y' is identically singular. Much of the mathematical effort has focused on computing a solution that is assumed to exist. More recently there has been some discussion of solvability of DAEs. There has historically been some imprecision in the use of the two key concepts of solvability and index for DAEs. The index is also important in control and systems theory but with different terminology. The consideration of increasingly complex nonlinear DAEs makes a clear and correct development necessary. This paper will try to clarify several points concerning the index. After establishing some new and more precise terminology that we need, some inaccuracies in the literature will be corrected. The two types of indices most frequently used, the differentiation index and the perturbation index, are defined with respect to solutions of unperturbed problems. Examples are given to show that these indices can be very different for the same problem. We define new ''maximum indices,'' which are the maxima of earlier indices in a neighborhood of the solution over a set of perturbations and show that these indices are simply related to each other. These indices are also related to an index defined in terms of Jacobians.