Minimum Input Selection for Structural Controllability

Given a linear system $\dot{x} = Ax$, where $A$ is an $n \times n$ matrix with $m$ nonzero entries, we consider the problem of finding the smallest set of state variables to affect with an input so that the resulting system is structurally controllable. We further assume we are given a set of "forbidden state variables" $F$ which cannot be affected with an input and which we have to avoid in our selection. Our main result is that this problem can be solved deterministically in $O(n+m \sqrt{n})$ operations.