On exponential stability of linear delay equations with oscillatory coefficients and kernels. (Q2148417)

The authors consider the scalar homogeneous linear differential equation \[x'(t)+\sum_{k=1}^{m}a_k(t)x(h_k(t))+\int_{g(t)}^{t}K(t,s)x(s)ds=0,\tag{1}\] and the corresponding non-homogeneous equation \[x'(t)+\sum_{k=1}^{m}a_k(t)x(h_k(t))+\int_{g(t)}^{t}K(t,s)x(s)ds=f(t),\tag{2}\] with initial condition \[x(t)=\phi(t),\ \ t\leq t_0,\tag{3}\] where \(a_k(t)\), \(f(t)\) and \(K(t,s)\) are Lebesgue measurable and bounded functions, \(h_k(t)\) and \(g(t)\) are measurable delayed arguments with bounded delays. The authors reduce these equations with several delay terms and an integral term to the forms \[x'(t)+a(t)x(t)=0,\tag{4}\] and \[x'(t)+a(t)x(h(t))=0,\tag{5}\] and obtain results pertaining to uniform exponential stability. They also obtain results for many special cases. These results are applied to analyse local exponential stability for modified versions of Hutchinson and Mackey-Glass equations with variable control. They illustrate their results with interesting examples. Further, they compare their results with those developed in earlier papers and discuss possible challenging problems.