An extension of the characterization of oscillations to arbitrary functional differential equations via the Laplace transform (Q1269549)

This paper deals with the existence of nonoscillatory solutions to the functional-differential equations \[ \begin{aligned} \left(x(t)+\int_0^rx(t-s) d\alpha_n(s)\right)^{(n)}&+\sum_{i=0}^{n-1}\left( \int_0^rx\left(t-s\right) d\alpha_i(s)\right)^{(i)}+\\ &+\sum_{j=n+1}^m\left(\int_{\rho }^rx(t-s) d\beta_j(s)\right)^{(j)}=0, \end{aligned} \tag{1} \] with \(r\geq\rho>0\), \(\alpha_i\), \(0\leq i\leq n\), are real functions of bounded variation on \([0,r]\) with \(\alpha_n\) is continuous at zero and \(\beta_j\), \(n+1\leq j\leq m\), are real functions of bounded variation on \([\rho,r]\). The authors present a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a so-called nonoscillatory solution defined in distibution terms using Laplace transform. They work with the adjoint operator \({\mathcal P}\) of the linear differential operator defined by the first side of (1) in \(C^\infty(\mathbb{R})\) in the classical duality with the space of the real distributions of compact support. As it is well known, the adjoint operator is defined by \[ \begin{aligned} ({\mathcal P}\psi) (t)&= (-1)^n\psi^{(n)} (t)+ \sum_{i=0}^{n-1} (-1)^i \left(\int_0^r\psi^{(i)} (t+s) d\alpha_i(s)\right)+\\ &+\sum_{j=n+1}^m (-1)^j \left(\int_{\rho}^r \psi^{(j)} (t+s) d\beta_j(s)\right)= 0, \end{aligned}\tag{2} \] \(\psi\in C^\infty (\mathbb{R})\). Surely, a real distribution \(x_\ast\in\mathcal{D}' (\mathbb{R})\) is a solution to (1) if \[ \langle x_\ast,{\mathcal P}\psi\rangle =0, \quad \psi\in C_c^\infty (t_x,\infty), \] where \(t_x\) depends on \(x\). The authors call \(x_\ast\) a \(C^\infty\)-solution, if there exists some \(T>t_x\) such that \(x\in C^\infty(T,\infty)\). The second pass is to define the oscillation, i.e., an adequate definition for oscillatory and nonoscillatory solutions (in terms of distributions). In order ``to introduce'' the sign, the authors work with the convolution. If \(\phi\in C_c^\infty(\mathbb{R})\), the convolution \[ \langle x (s),\phi (t-s)\rangle\equiv x_\phi(t) \] is a real \(C^\infty\) function. It is evident that if \(x\) is a solution to (1), then \(x_\phi\) is a \(C^\infty\)-solution to \((1)\). Now, a solution \(x\) to \((1)\) is called nonoscillatory, if there exist a function \(\phi\in C_c^\infty (\mathbb{R})\) and a point \(T\) such that \(x_\phi(t)\) is either nonnegative or nonpositive for \(t\geq T\) and \(x_\phi\equiv 0\) on any right halfline. Hence, if a nonoscillatory solution \(x\) to (1) and \(\phi\) as above, then \(x_\phi\) is a \(C^\infty\)-nonoscillatory solution. As the characteristic equation of (1) is \[ \chi(z)\equiv z^n+ \sum_{i=0}^n z^i \int_0^r e^{-zs} d\alpha_i(s)+ \sum_{j=n+1}^m z^j \int_{\rho}^r e^{-zs} d\beta_j (s)=0, \] the authors present as the main result: The functional equation (1) has a nonoscillatory solution if and only if its characteristic equation has a real root. As particular case, the authors consider the differential-difference equation \[ \sum_i \Bigl(\sum_ja_{ij} x(t-\tau_{ij}) \Bigr)^{(i)}=0, \qquad \sum_{i,j}|a_{ij}|>0,\tag{3} \] where all \(a_{ij}\) and \(\tau_{ij}\) are real numbers. As its characteristic equation is \[ \sum_iz^i \sum_ja_{ij} e^{-\tau_{ij}z}=0, \tag{4} \] (3) has a nonoscillatory solution if and only if the equation (4) has a real root.