Existence of solutions for a mixed type differential equation with state-dependence (Q2396889)

After a review of related literature, the initial value problem \[ \dot x(t) = f[t, x(t), x(T(x(t)))], \quad x(t_0) = x_0 \in {\mathbb R}^n \] is studied, for \(C^1\)-functions \( f\) and \(T\), and mainly under the assumption \(T(x_0) \neq t_0\). An existence result of Peano type is obtained from Schauder's fixed point theorem, first for bounded \(f\) and \(T\), and then without this restriction, using a cutoff technique. Proofs are given in quite detailed form; the proof of Lemma 2 could have been shortened using uniform continuity on compact sets. Important conditions are that \(f(t, x_0, x_0) = 0\) and that \(l^*\cdot||J_f(t, x_0, x_0)|| <1 \) for \(t\) in an interval of the form \([t_0 - l^*, t_0 + l^*]\). Applications to differential equations with iterates (such as \(x(x(t))\)) are discussed in the end.