A definition of spectrum for differential equations on finite time (Q2378616)

The theory of hyperbolicity for linear systems of ordinary differential equations on the line is now well-developed. The authors study hyperbolic linear systems on compact time intervals. In this case, hyperbolicity means that if \(\Phi(t,s)\) is the evolution operator of a linear system on an interval \(I\), then \[ |\Phi(t,s)\xi|\leq\exp(-\alpha(t-s))|\xi| \] for \(t,s\in I\) with \(t\geq s\) and for vectors \(\xi\) from the ``stable subspace'' at time \(s\) (and a similar estimate holds for the ``unstable subspace'' and \(t\leq s\)). They introduce the notion of a finite time spectrum, prove an analog of the Sacker-Sell theorem, and treat the problem of uniqueness for spectral manifolds.