Comparison theorems for second order nonlinear difference equations (Q1779343)

The paper is mainly concerned with the oscillatory nature of the solutions of the difference equation: \[ \Delta \left( r_n f(\Delta x_{n-1})\right)+g(n,x_n)=0, \] and its functional form: \[ \Delta \left( r_n f(\Delta x_{n-1})\right)+g(n,x_{\tau_n})=0, \] where \(\{r_n\}_{n\geq n_0}\) is a positive real sequence, \(f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}\) is a continuous increasing function such that \(xf(x)>0\) for \(x\neq 0\), \(g:\mathbb{N}(n_0) \times \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}\) (\(\mathbb{N}(n_0)=\{n_0,n_0+1,\dots\}\); \(n_0\) is a positive integer) is a continuous function such that \(xg(n,x)>0\) for \(x\neq 0\) and all \(n\in \mathbb{N}(n_0)\), and \(\{\tau_n\}_{n\geq n_0}\) is a positive integer-valued sequence such that \(\lim_{n\rightarrow \infty} \tau_n =\infty\). Throughout this work the authors assume that \[ \sum_{i=n_0}^\infty \gamma ~ f^{-1}\left(\frac{\gamma}{r_i}\right)=\infty,\quad \text{for any}~ \gamma \neq 0 \] where \(f^{-1}\) is the inverse function of \(f\). Also, for some of their results, they require the following monotonicity property of \(g\): \[ g(n,x)~\text{is increasing with respect to}~ x~ \text{for each}~n\in \mathbb{N}(n_0). \] By utilizing these assumptions, the authors establish several new oscillation results for the above-mentioned equations. Some of these results generalize, improve, or unify known oscillation results established by \textit{S. S. Cheng} and \textit{W. T. Patula} [Nonlinear Anal., Theory Methods Appl. 20, 193--203 (1993; Zbl 0774.39001)], \textit{B. Liu} and \textit{S. S. Cheng} [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 204, 482--493 (1996; Zbl 0872.39004)], \textit{P. Řehák} [Czech. Math. J. 51, 303--321 (2001; Zbl 0982.39004)], \textit{B. G. Zhang} and \textit{S. S. Cheng} [Ann. Differ. Equations 11, 485--494 (1995; Zbl 0840.39005)]. They also explore the role played by the argument \(\tau_n\) on the oscillation of the functional equation. In particular, they characterize a class of sequences \(\{\tau_n\}\) which have a harmless effect on the oscillation of this type of equations.