Periodic solutions of Abel equations with jumps (Q2414794)

The authors study the existence of \(T\)-periodic solutions of Abel-type equations with jumps. More precisely, they consider the equation \[ \theta' = P(\theta) + I(\theta) \tag{1} \] where \(P(\theta) = f_0 + \sum_{j=1}^mf_j\theta^j\) is a polynomial term in \(\theta\) with \(T\)-periodic coefficients of bounded variation and \(I(\theta)=\sum_{k=1}^n a_k(\theta)J_{\tau_k}(\theta)\) is a step function with jumps of state-dependent amplitude at state-dependent instants, which satisfies the condition \[ \sum_{k=1}^n a_k(\theta)=0. \tag{2} \] Under suitable assumption, the existence of an absolutely continuous \(T\)-periodic solution \(\theta\) of (1) is proved with derivative having preassigned state-dependent discontinuities that satisfy (2). The proof of these existence results is based on fixed point techniques, Schauder's theorem and Banach-Picard contraction principle. The operators involved are obtained by means of a convolution. The paper contains also some numerical examples, one of them concerning an Abel equation encountered in cosmology.