On the existence of periodic solutions to a \(p\)-Laplacian neutral differential equation in the critical case (Q1021939)

The author considers the second order neutral functional differential equation of the form \[ \left(\varphi_p(x(t)-c\,x(t-\tau))^\prime\right)^\prime=f(x(t))x^{\prime}(t)+g(t,x(t-\mu(t)))+e(t), \] in the so-called critical case when \(|c|=1\). Here \(\varphi_p:\mathbb R\to\mathbb R\) is given by \(\varphi_p(s)=s|s|^{p-2}, s\neq0, \varphi_p(0)=0, f\in C(\mathbb R,\mathbb R), g\in C(\mathbb R^2,\mathbb R)\) and \(g\) is \(2\pi-\)periodic in \(t\), \(e(t)\) and \(\mu(t)\) are \(2\pi-\)periodic with \(\int_0^{2\pi} e(t)\,dt=0\), \(\tau>0\) and \(c\) are real constants with \(|c|=1\). By analyzing some properties of the linear difference operator \(A: [Ax](t):=x(t)-c\,x(t-\tau)\) and using Mawhin's continuation theorem, some sufficient conditions for the existence of periodic solutions are derived.