Paper detail

On the region of attraction of phase-locked states for swing equations on connected graphs with inhomogeneous dampings

We consider the synchronization problem of swing equations, a second-order Kuramoto-type model, on connected networks with inhomogeneous dampings. This was largely motivated by its relevance to the dynamics of power grids. We focus on the estimate of the region of attraction of synchronous states which is a central problem in the transient stability of power grids. In the recent literature, Dörfler, Chertkov, and Bullo [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110 (2013), pp. 2005-2010] found a condition for the synchronization in smart grids. They pointed out that the region of attraction is an important unsolved problem. In [SIAM J. Control Optim., 52 (2014), pp. 2482-2511], only a special case was considered where the oscillators have homogeneous dampings and the underlying graph has a diameter less than or equal to 2. There the analysis heavily relies on these assumptions; however, they are too strict compared to the real power networks. In this paper, we continue the study and derive an estimate on the region of attraction of phase-locked states for lossless power grids on connected graphs with inhomogeneous dampings. Our main strategy is based on the gradient-like formulation and energy estimate. We refine the assumptions by constructing a new energy functional which enables us to consider such general settings.