LMI approach to stability for a competitive Lotka–Volterra system with time-varying delays

This paper considers the problem of local asymptotic stability for a competitive Lotka–Volterra system with time-varying delays. By employing a linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach, we not only prove that the local asymptotic stability of the positive equilibrium for the Lotka–Volterra type competitive system will be preserved for suitable delays under a well known condition, but also obtain the maximal allowable length of delays by using Matlab’s Control Systems Toolbox to solve a feasible LMI. Compared with some known results, our estimate on the length of delays is less conservative.