A general method for computer-assisted proofs of periodic solutions in delay differential problems (Q2134120)

This paper proposes a novel computer-assisted method for finding and proving periodic solutions of differential equations of delayed, advanced and mixed-type of the form \[ x'=F(x(t-\tau_1),\dots, x(t-\tau_k)),\quad \tau_i \in \mathbb R,\ 1\leq i\leq k. \] In the nonpolynomial case, first some auxiliary variables are introduced to rewrite the problem into an equivalent polynomial one. This is based on the observation that many nonpolynomial functions can be constructed as solutions of (systems of) polynomial ODEs. Then a fixed point technique is applied in a space of geometrically decaying Fourier coefficients. This is based on a Newton-like method, where a carefully chosen approximation of the inverse of the Jacobian plays a crucial role. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated by finding and proving the existence of periodic orbits of the famous Mackey-Glass equation both near and within its numerically observed chaotic regime.