Asymptotic estimates for the periods of periodic solutions of a differential-delay equation (Q1071164)

This paper is a further step in the study of the periodic solutions of the DDE (*) \(x'(t)=-\alpha f(x(t-1))\). Here f is an odd continuous map \({\mathbb{R}}\to {\mathbb{R}}\), nondecreasing on \([0,x^*]\), nonincreasing on \([x^*,\infty)\), and such that there are positive constants a, d, r and \(\sigma\) and a real number \(x_ 0\) such that \((a-dx^{-\sigma})x^{- r}\leq f(x)\leq (a+dx^{-\sigma})x^{-r}\) for \(x\geq x_ 0\). Moreover, assume \(r>2\) and \(\sigma >r/(r-1)\). The second author [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 81, 373-397 (1983; Zbl 0518.34068)] proved, for large \(\alpha\), the existence of a periodic solution \(x_{\alpha}\) to (*) of minimal period \(2q_{\alpha}\), positive on \((0,q_{\alpha})\), with \(x_{\alpha}(t+q_{\alpha})=-x_{\alpha}(t)\) for all t, and such that \(q_{\alpha}\to \infty\) as \(\alpha\) \(\to \infty\). Here, a careful study of such solutions shows that there are constants A, B such that, for large \(\alpha\), \(A\alpha^{r-2}\leq q_{\alpha}\leq B\alpha^{r-2}\). A similar precise asymptotic estimate for the periods is obtained also for the periodic solutions of (*) whose minimal periods tend to 2 as \(\alpha\) \(\to \infty\), and which are obtained from the previous ones with the aid of an ingenious transformation introduced by \textit{D. Saupe} in his Ph. D. dissertation in Bremen (1982 Zbl 0506.65032).