Periodic solution of a periodic neutral delay equation (Q1378655)

The paper deals with the existence of positive periodic solutions of the equation \[ N'(t)= N(t)\Biggl[a(t)- \sum^n_{j= 1}b_j(t)N(t-\sigma_j)- \sum^n_{j= 1}c_j(t)N'(t-\tau_j)\Biggr],\tag{1} \] where \(a\), \(b_j\), \(c_j\), \(j= 1,2,\dots, n\) are positive continuous functions periodic with period \(\omega>0\) and \(\sigma_j\), \(\tau_j\), \(j= 1,2,\dots, n\), are nonnegative constants. The author considers three cases: 1. \(\sigma_j= \tau_j\), \(c_j(t)\in C^1\) \((\mathbb{R},(0,\infty))\), \(c_j(t)< b_j(t)\), \(j= 1,2,\dots, n\); 2. \(c_j(t)= c_j>0\), \(j= 1,2,\dots, n\); 3. \(\sigma_j= m_j\omega\), \(\tau_j= n_j\omega\), \(j=1,2,\dots, n\), \(n_j\) and \(m_j\) are positive integers. In all cases, under some additional conditions, the author proves the existence of at least one positive \(\omega\)-periodic solution using Mawhin's theorem on the existence of a fixed point of a Fredholm mapping of index \(0\).