On positive solutions of second-order delayed differential system with indefinite weight (Q2126848)

This paper establishes criteria guaranteeing the existence of positive solutions to the following second-order delay differential system \[ x_1''(t)+h_1(t)f_1(x_1(t-\tau_1),x_2(t-\tau_2))=0,\quad x_2''(t)+h_2(t)f_2(x_1(t-\tau_1),x_2(t-\tau_2)) = 0 \] for $0<t<1$, where $0<\tau_1<\tau_2<\frac12$, $x_i(t)=0$ for $-\tau_i\leq t\leq 0$, and $x_1(1)=x_2(1)=0$. Furthermore, $h_i:[0,1]\to \mathbb{R}$ are continuous and there exists $\xi\in(0,1-\tau_2)$ such that \[ \begin{cases} h_i(t)\geq 0\text{ for } t\in[0,\xi], \\ h_i(t)=0\text{ for } t\in[\xi,\xi+\tau_2], \\ h_i(t)\leq 0\text{ for } t\in[\xi+\tau_2,1] \end{cases} \] and the $h_i$ do not vanish on any interval not contained in $[\xi,\xi+\tau_2]$. Also, $f_i: \mathbb{R}^+ \times \mathbb{R}^+\to \mathbb{R}^+$ are continuous and there exists $\theta\in(0,1]$ such that \[ f_i(u,v)\geq \theta \max\{f_i(x_1,x_2):0\leq x_1\leq u,0\leq x_2\leq v\}. \] These criteria require the existence of functions $F_i:\mathbb{R}^+ \times \mathbb{R}^+ \to \mathbb{R}^+$, strictly increasing in both arguments and homogeneous of positive degree \(\alpha\), such that $F_i\geq f_i\geq k_iF_i$, where $k_i$ is a positive constant. They also require the existence of parameters $\sigma_i\in(\tau_2,\xi)$ such that \[ \theta^2k_i(\sigma_i-\tau_2)^{\alpha_i}\int{\sigma_i}^\xi G(t,s)h_i^+(s)ds\geq \xi^{\alpha_i}\int_{\xi+\tau_2}^1 G(t,s)h_i^-(s)ds \] where $G(t,s)=\min\{t,s\}(1-\max\{t,s\})$, for $(t,s)\in [0,1]^2$. The exact computation of the $F_i$ and \(\alpha\) is also required in order to verify that the criterion holds. Given $F_i$, \(\alpha\), the formulas of the existence criterion can be readily computed and verified, as illustrated in several examples. Though it is easy to find $F_i$, \(\alpha\), when the $f_i$ are homogeneous, it would be interesting to develop techniques for computing $F_i$, \(\alpha\), for arbitrary $f_i$.