One-signed periodic solutions of first-order functional differential equations with a parameter (Q657168)

Summary: By using global bifurcation techniques, we study one-signed periodic solutions of the first-order functional differential equation \[ u'(t) = -a(t)u(t) + \lambda b(t) f(u(t - \tau(t))),\;t \in \mathbb R, \] where \(a, b \in C(\mathbb R, [0, \infty))\) are \(\omega\)-periodic functions with \[ \int^\omega_0 a(t)\,dt > 0,\;\int^\omega_0 b(t)\,dt > 0, \] \(\tau\) is a continuous \(\omega\)-periodic function, and \(\lambda > 0\) is a parameter; \(f \in C (\mathbb R, \mathbb R)\) and there exist two constants \(s_2 < 0 < s_1\) such that \(f(s_2) = f(0) = f(s_1) = 0\), \(f(s) > 0\) for \(s \in (0, s_1) \cup (s_1, \infty)\) and \(f(s) < 0\) for \(s \in (-\infty, s_2) \cup (s_2, 0)\).