Oscillation theorems for second order nonlinear differential equations with deviating arguments (Q580569)

Oscillation criteria are obtained for the nonlinear equations \[ (1.1)\quad (a(t)x'(t))'+p(t)x'(t)+q(t)f(x[g(t)])=0, \] \[ (1.2)\quad (a(t)\psi (x(t))x'(t))'+p(t)x'(t)+q(t)f(x[g(t)])=0. \] It is assumed that f is nondecreasing and satisfies \(xf(x)>0\), for \(x\neq 0\). The results therefore are quite general, applying to sublinear, linear, and superlinear equations. For equation (1.1) two theorems are proved, giving sufficient conditions for the equation to be oscillatory at infinity. As is usually the case, there are stated in terms of integral growth conditions on the coefficient functions a(t),p(t),g(t), and q(t). One such result is the following: Theorem 1. Assume that the following conditions hold: \[ \int^{\infty}_{T}\frac{1}{a(s)}\exp (\sum^{S}_{T}-\frac{p(u)}{a(u)}du)ds=\infty. \] There exists a differentiable function \(\sigma\) : [t\({}_ 0,\infty)\to (0,\infty)\) such that \(\sigma\) (t)\(\leq g(t)\), \(\sigma\) '(t)\(\geq 0\), for \(t\geq t_ 0\), and \(\lim_{t\to \infty}\sigma (t)=\infty\). There exists a twice differentiable function \(\rho\) : [t\({}_ 0,\infty)\to (0,\infty)\) such that \[ \rho ''(t)\leq 0,\quad and\quad \frac{\rho '(t)}{\rho (t)}+\frac{a(t)}{\rho (t)}(\frac{\rho (t)}{a(t)})'\leq \frac{p(t)}{a(t)},\quad for\quad t\geq t_ 0, \] \[ \limsup_{t\to \infty}\frac{1}{t^ n}\int^{t}_{t_ 0}(t-t_ 0)^ n\frac{\rho (s)}{a(s)}q(s)ds=\infty,\text{ for some } n\geq 1. \] Then equation (1.1) is oscillatory. Analogous theorems are proved for equation (1.2), and many examples are given. The results generalize those of several authors, for the semilinear ordinary differential equation \(x''+f(t,x)=0\). They are closely related to the results of Belohorec and Kamenev, for the special case of the sublinear equation \(x''+q(t)| x(t)|^{\alpha}sgn x(t)=0,\) \(0<\alpha <1\). Since no assumptions are made about g, other than those expressed through the growth conditions, the results apply to equations of advanced as well as retarded type. The paper contains several minor misprints.