Versal unfoldings for linear retarded functional differential equations. (Q1412349)

Parametrized families of linear FDEs with finite delay \(\tau > 0\) of the form \(\dot{z}(t)=\mathcal L (\alpha)z_t\) are considered, where \(\mathcal L (\alpha)\) is a linear operator from \(C([-\tau,0],\mathbb C^n)\) to \(\mathbb C^n\), depending on the parameter \(\alpha \in \mathbb C^p\). A reduction to invariant manifolds (for the system augmented by the equation \(\dot{\alpha}=0)\), associated with a finite set of characteristic values of \(\mathcal L (0)\), is carried out in Sections 3 and 4. (These sections are close in spirit and notation to previous work of Faria and Magalhães.) The reduced systems read \(\dot{x}= \mathcal B (\alpha) x\), with \(\mathcal B (\alpha)\in\mathbb C^{c\times c}\), and the main question is when the family \(\mathcal B (\alpha)\) is a versal unfolding of the matrix \(B=\mathcal B (0)\) (i.e., moves into all directions not similar to \(B\), as \(\alpha\) is varied). A sufficient condition for this property is given in Theorem 5.1 in terms of function matrices \(\Phi\) and \(\Psi\), where \(\Phi\) consists of eigenfunctions of \(\mathcal L (0)\) and \(\Psi\) is in appropriate sense dual to \(\Phi\). In Section 6 it is proved (by a considerable amount of carefully performed matrix arithmetic) that the tangent space to the similarity orbit of \(B\) and a subspace of matrices with columns in the range of \(\Psi(0)\) are transversal. This description allows one to prove in Section 7 that operator families of the form \(\mathcal L (\alpha)={\mathcal L}_0+\sum_m \alpha_m L_m\), where each \(L_m\) is essentially a linear combination of evaluations at suitable times \(\tau_j\in[-\tau,0]\), generate a corresponding versal unfolding \(\mathcal B (\alpha)\) of the matrix \(B\). The method of constructing (or recognizing) versal unfoldings by use of evaluation at suitable times is illustrated in three examples in Section 8, two first-order and one second-order equation.