Invariance of the stability of Meissner's equation under a permutation of its intervals (Q2569742)

The authors consider the Meissner equation \(x''+\alpha(t)x=0\), where \(\alpha\) is a \(T\)-periodic piecewise constant function defined as \(\alpha(t)=w_i\), \(t\in((i-1)h,ih]\), \(i=1,\dots,n\), where \(h=T/n\) and \(w_i>0\) for all \(i\). The (in)stability of this equation is defined as (un)boundedness of all its solutions. The main problem discussed in the paper is: Which permutations of the pieces of \(\alpha\) preserve the stability character of the equation? Solving this problem leads to some nontrivial problems on matrix algebra (invariance of the trace of a product of matrices).