llany systems encountered in practice involve a coupling between contin- uous dynamics and discrete events. Systems in which these two kinds of dynamics coexist and interact are usually called hybrid. For example, the following phenomena give rise to hybrid behavior: a valve or a power switch opening and closing; a thermostat turning the heat on and off; biological cells growing and dividing; a server switching between buffers in a queueing network; aircraft entering, crossing, and leaving an air traffic control region; dynamics of a car changing abruptly due to wheels locking and unlocking on ice. Hybrid systems constitute a relatively new and very active area of current research. They present interesting theoretical challenges and are important in many real-world problems. Due to its inherently interdisci- plinary nature, the field has attracted the attention of people with diverse backgrounds, primarily computer scientists, applied mathematicians, and engineers. Researchers with a background and interest in continuous-time systems and control theory are concerned primarily with properties of the contin- uous dynamics, such as Lyapunov stability. A detailed investigation of the discrete behavior, on the other hand, is usually not a goal in itself. In fact, rather than dealing with specifics of the discrete dynamics, it is often use- ful to describe and analyze a more general category of systems which is known to contain a particular model of interest.
