ABSTRACT
According to the literature, the most comprehensive treatment of stability occurs in the disciplines of physics and control systems. The motivation for defining stability is well stated by Stewart in the foreword of the 1992 translation ofA.M. Lyapunov’s The General Problem of the Stability of Motion [91]. Stewart notes that Lyapunov recognized that there are many distinct concepts of stability-different ways to formalize the idea that “small disturbances lead to small changes in the motion.” This general concept has applied to a wide range of disciplines from engineering to political science. In each case, however, the definition has been adapted to the area to which it is being applied. This chapter will take the same liberties but will remain motivated by the concept of “small disturbances lead to small changes in the motion.”
