Stability criteria for positive linear discrete-time systems

Abstract: We prove new characterisations of exponential stability for positive linear discrete-time systems in ordered Banach spaces, in terms of small-gain conditions. Such conditions have played an important role in the finite-dimensional systems theory, but are relatively unexplored in the infinite-dimensional setting, yet. Our results are applicable to discrete-time systems in ordered Banach spaces that have a normal and generating positive cone. Moreover, we show that our stability criteria can be considerably simplified if the cone has non-empty interior or if the operator under consideration is quasi-compact. To place our results into context we include an overview of known stability criteria for linear (and not necessarily positive) operators and provide full proofs for several folklore characterizations from this domain.