Local stability analysis of differential equations with state-dependent delay (Q255933)

The author considers the functional differential equation \(x'(t)=f(x_t)\) defined by some map \(f: U\to \mathbb{R}^n\) from an open neighborhood \(U\in C^1\) of the origin in \(C^1\) into \(\mathbb{R}^n\) with \(f(0)=0\). Some aspects of the local stability analysis are discussed. This is done under smoothness assumptions which are often satisfied in the presence of a state-dependent delay. Apart from recapitulating the two classical principles of linearized stability and instability, the analog of the Pliss reduction principle for the class of differential equations under consideration is deduced. This reduction principle enables to determine the local stability properties of a solution in the situation where the linearization does not have any eigenvalues with positive real part but at least one eigenvalue on the imaginary axis.