Periodic solutions of the Riccati equation

It is shown that the Riccati equations of control theory are generically Morse-Smale. The existence of periodic solutions is explicitly demonstrated. The principal contribution here is thought to be the presentation of a mathematical structure in which to study the Riccati equation. Mathematical structures already in the literature are systematically exploited. It is also shown that most problems of the Riccati equation can be reduced to problems in linear algebra. A framework is developed for studying the Riccati equation, and the proof that the Morse-Smale conditions are satisfied is outlined.