Global determination of a nonlinearity from a periodic motion (Q2442985)

The authors consider the problem of determining a nonlinearity of an autonomous ordinary differential equation from its periodic solutions. More precisely, a scalar second order ODE like \(\ddot u + g(u) = 0\), with \(g\) a continuous function satisfying \(g(u)u > 0\) for \(u \neq 0\), is taken into account and the period function \(T_g\) (that is, a relation between periods and amplitudes of a periodic solution) is introduced; in this setting, conditions are given to determine \(g\) from \(T_g\), thus generalizing previous (local) results by Alfawicka. The related problem of determining \(g\) from a relation between periods and initial positions with zero velocity is discussed, as well. In the final section of the paper, some nice applications of the above results are given in the framework of bifurcation theory.