Input-to-State Stability Implications in Contraction Theory

For nonlinear control systems on normed vector spaces, we characterize an incremental input-to-state stability (ISS) type property in which the overshoot constant multiplies both the initial-condition and the input terms.

Working through the associated variational system, we show that two properties are equivalent: an ISS-type bound on the variational system, and the incremental ISS-type bound on the original system.

We further establish the equivalence between an infinitesimal contraction condition, expressed through a Lyapunov-type function, and an incremental Lyapunov condition.

Each of these equivalent conditions yields a necessary condition and a sufficient condition for the ISS-type bounds, differing only in the input Lipschitz constant of the vector field.

When the overshoot constant equals one, the infinitesimal contraction condition reduces to the standard norm-based contraction conditions.

We establish these implications under mere continuous differentiability of the vector field, and we illustrate the results through sensitivity matrices and Lyapunov characteristic exponents.