Minimal \(\mathcal{M} \)-symmetric periodic solutions of general Hamiltonian systems and delay differential equations (Q2141672)

The paper is concerned with autonomous Hamiltonian systems \(\dot z = \mathcal{J}H'(z)\) in \(\mathbb{R}^{2N}\) where \(\mathcal{J}\) is a skew-symmetric nondegenerate matrix and \(H\) is superquadratic. Given a symplectic matrix \(\mathcal{M}\), i.e., \(\mathcal{M}^\top \mathcal{J}^{-1}\mathcal{M}=\mathcal{J}^{-1}\), satisfying \(\mathcal{M}^k=I_{2N}\) for some \(k\in\mathbb{N}\), the authors prove for every \(\tau>0\) the existence of a solution \(z(t)\) such that \(z(\tau)=\mathcal{M}z(0)\). As a consequence this solution is \(k\tau\)-periodic. They also investigate the minimal period of this solution, based on an iteration theory for the Maslov index defined in [\textit{C.-G. Liu}, J. Differ. Equations 252, No. 10, 5712--5734 (2012; Zbl 1255.34068)]. The results are applied to delay differential systems of the form \[ \dot x(t) = f\left(x(t-1)\big) + \dots + f\big(x(t-m+1)\right) \] and to first-order Hamiltonian systems with delay.