Allowable delays for positive diffusion processes (Q1074767)

Consider the delay parabolic equation of the form \[ u_ t=a(t)u_{xx}- p(x,t)u(x,t-\sigma)+q(x,t)u(x,t-\rho) \] where a,p, and q are non- negative coefficients and the delays \(\sigma\) and \(\rho\) are non-negative constants. The purpose of this paper is to establish upper bounds on delays which result from the requirement that \(u(x,t)>0\) for \(t\geq 0\).