Computation of the canonical polynomials and applications to some optimal control problems

The Tau method is a numerical technique that consists in constructing polynomial approximate solutions for ordinary differential equations. This method has two approaches: operational and recursive. The former converts the differential problem to a matrix problem and produces approximations in terms of a prescribed orthogonal polynomials basis. In the recursive approach, we construct approximate solutions in terms of a special set of polynomials {Q k (t); k = 0, 1, 2...} called canonical polynomials basis. In some cases, the Q k ’s can be obtained explicitly through a recursive formula. But no analogous formulae are reported in the literature for the general cases. In this paper, utilizing the operational Tau method, we develop an algorithm that allows to generate those canonical polynomials iteratively and explicitly. In addition, we demonstrate the capability of the operational Tau method in treating quadratic optimal control problems governed by ordinary differential equations.