Oscillation of linear second order matrix differential equations (Q1269577)

The authors derive Hartman-Wintner type oscillation criteria for the self-adjoint second-order differential system \[ (P(t)y')'+Q(t)y=0, \tag{*} \] where \(P,Q\) are symmetric \(n\times n\) matrices and \(P\) is nonsingular. A typical result is the statement: If \(P^{-1}(t)-I\) is nonnegative definite for \(t\geq a\) and \[ \liminf_{T\to\infty}{1\over T}\int_a^T\left(\text{tr } \int_a^t Q(s) ds\right) dt>-\infty \] then (*) is oscillatory provided one of the following conditions holds: \[ \limsup_{t\to \infty}{1\over T}\int_a^T \left(\int_a^t \text{tr } Q(s) ds\right) dt=\infty.\tag{i} \] \[ \limsup_{t\to \infty}{1\over T}\int_a^T \left[\int_a^t \text{tr } Q(s) ds\right]^2 dt=\infty. \tag{ii} \] Recall that (*) is said to be oscillatory if for any \(t_0\in \mathbb{R}\) there exist \(t_0<t_1<t_2\) and a nontrivial solution \(y\) to (*) such that \(y(t_1)=0=y(t_2)\). It is shown that the oscillation criteria given are independent of those given by \textit{J. Butler, L. Erbe} and \textit{A. B. Mingarelli} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 303, 263-282 (1987; Zbl 0648.34031)].