New approach for the existence of pseudo almost periodic solutions for some second order differential equation with piecewise constant argument (Q2492439)

For \[ x''(t)+px''(t-1)=qx(2\left[\frac{t+1}{3}\right])+f(t) \tag{*} \] it is shown, with a suitable concept of solution on \(\mathbb{R}\), that to bounded \(f:\mathbb{R} \to\mathbb{R}\), continuous on \(\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{Z}\) with \(f(\pm n)\) existing for \(n\in\mathbb{Z}\), there exists exactly one bounded solution \(x\), which is pseudo almost-periodic in the sense of Zhang if \(f\) is pseudo almost-periodic in a somewhat modified sense, similarly for the perturbed periodic case. Assumptions: \(p,q\) real with \(|p|\neq 1\), the zeros of an associated polynomial of degree 3 have moduli \(\neq 1\). This is done by establishing a correspondence between the solutions of (*) and those of a certain difference equation on \(\mathbb{Z}\), and solving the latter problem explicitly with the shift operator and decomposing the characteristic polynomial in linear factors.