Extremal solutions for \(n\)th order linear difference equations (Q1197437)

The author analyzes the characteristics of extremal solutions for linear difference equations of the form \((*)\;Ly(t)+p(t)y(t)=0\) where \(L\) is an \(n\)-th order disconjugate linear difference operator and \(p(t)\) is nonzero and of constant sign on the interval \(I=[a,\infty)=\{a,a+1,\dots\}\). This work is based on and extends the result concerning the classification of solutions done by \textit{D. Hankerson} and \textit{A. Peterson} [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 136, 249-266 (1988; Zbl 0664.39001)]. The main result of this paper is the following: The set of nontrivial solutions of \((*)\) is the union of disjoint, non empty sets \(S_ k\), \(0\leq k\leq n\), \((-1)^{n-k}p(t)<0\) such that each set consists either of oscillatory solutions or of nonoscillatory solutions only.