Hyperbolicity of periodic solutions of functional differential equations with several delays (Q2377552)

The main object of the paper is the monodromy operator \(\mathcal{M}\) associated to \(T\)-periodic solutions of delay equations \[ \dot{x}(t)=f(x(t), x(t-1), \dots x(t-n)), \] where the period \(T=\frac{M}{N}\) is rational and less than \(n\). The equation \((\mathcal{M}-\lambda)\phi=\psi\) is shown to be equivalent to a linear boundary value problem for a vector function \(U:[0,\frac{1}{M}]\to \mathbb{C}^N\). The nonzero eigenvalues of \(\mathcal{M}\) are characterized as the zeroes of \(q(\lambda)=\mathrm{det}\, Q(\lambda)\), where the \(N\times N\) matrix \(Q(\lambda)\) can be computed from the fundamental matrix of the boundary value problem for \(U\). If \(q\) has a zero \(\lambda\) of multiplicity \(j(\lambda)\) then the geometric multiplicity of \(\lambda\) as eigenvalue of \(\mathcal{M}\) coincides with the rank defect \(N-\mathrm{rank}\, Q(\lambda)\). Further, the algebraic multiplicity of \(\lambda\) satisfies \(m(\lambda)\leq j(\lambda)\cdot[N-\mathrm{rank} Q(\lambda)]\). Under additional conditions, \(\lambda\) is geometrically simple and \(m(\lambda)=j(\lambda)\). From these results it can be shown that if \(\mathcal{M}\) has no spectrum on \(S^1\) except the trivial multiplier \(1\), and if \(q'(1)\neq 0\), then the periodic solution is hyperbolic. The computation of the fundamental matrix can be simplified if the nonlinearity is constant on appropriate regions in \(\mathbb{R}^n\). The paper concludes with an example of this kind, where \(N= 8\).