Computation and verification of contraction metrics for periodic orbits

Exponentially stable periodic orbits of ordinary differential equations and their basins' of attraction are characterized by contraction metrics. The advantages of a contraction metric over a Lyapunov function include its insensitivity to small perturbations of the dynamics and the exact location of the periodic orbit. We present a novel algorithm to rigorously compute contraction metrics, that combines the numerical solving of a first order partial differential equation with rigorous verification of the conditions for a contraction metric. Further, we prove that our algorithm is able to compute a contraction metric for any ordinary differential equation possessing an exponentially stable periodic orbit. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach by computing contraction metrics for three systems from the literature.