Existence of periodic solutions of sublinear Hamiltonian systems (Q287979)

The authors study the existence of periodic solutions for a scalar second order differential equation of the type \[ x''+f(t,x)=0. \] Here, \(f:{\mathbb R}\times{\mathbb R}\to{\mathbb R}\) is a Carathéodory function, \(2\pi\)-periodic in its first variable \(t\). It satisfies a sublinear growth assumption, and a kind of Ahmad-Lazer-Paul condition at the first eigenvalue \(0\). They prove the existence of a sequence of periodic solutions, whose amplitudes grow to infinity. In the second part of the paper, the authors concentrate on the problem of bouncing solutions. After having specified what they mean by this, they use a critical point theorem for nonsmooth functionals to prove, as before, the existence of a sequence of periodic solutions, whose amplitudes grow to infinity.