Integer quadratic obstructions to the local controllability of the Burgers equation

We consider the Burgers equation with a scalar control acting through a fixed spatial profile, in a regime where the linearized system is not controllable.

We identify natural conditions on the control profile leading to quadratic obstructions to small-time local null-controllability, quantified by negative Sobolev norms of the control of arbitrary integer order.

We show that these conditions are related to iterated Lie brackets.

The proof relies on repeated integrations by parts in the quadratic expansion combined with nonlinear remainder estimates.

Finally, we construct smooth spatial profiles that produce obstructions at every negative integer order.