Consider a nonlinear system described by the state equation:
x
˙
=
f
(
t
,
x
)
\dot x = f(t,x)
x˙=f(t,x) When the function
f
f
f does not depend explicitly on
t
t
t; that is,
x
˙
=
f
(
x
)
\dot x = f(x)
x˙=f(x)In this case, the state equation is said to be autonomous or time invariant. The behavior of an autonomous system is invariant to shifts in the time origin, since changing the time variable from
t
t
t to
τ
=
t
−
a
\tau = t-a
τ=t−a does not changethe right-handside of the state equation. If the system is not autonomous, then it is called nonautonomous or time varying.
Reference:
[1] Hassan K. Khalil. Nonlinear control [M]. Person Education, England, 2015: 18