Oscillation, rotation, and wandering exponents of solutions of differential systems (Q325526)

The author studies various properties of solutions of linear homogeneous systems of differential equations. Let \(x(t)\) be a nonzero solution of the system \[ \dot{x}=A(t)x,\quad x\in\mathbb R^n. \] Let \(1\leq k\leq n\), consider a linear operator \(L\) in \(\mathbb R^n\) of rank \(k\), and set \(z(t)=Lx(t)\). For \(k>1\), the variation of the trace \(u_z(t)=z(t)/|z(t)|\) on the unit sphere is defined by the formula \[ \gamma(z,t)=\int_0^t|\dot{u}_z(\tau)|d\tau\text{ if } z(\tau)\neq 0,\;\tau\in[0,t], \] and \(\gamma(z,t)=\infty\) otherwise. For \(k=1\), the definition has a different form. The author introduces various Lyapunov type characteristics of solutions; for example, wandering, rotation, and oscillation exponents of rank \(k\) are defined in terms of the variation of the trace (and of similar values, such as variation of the angle). He establishes a series of equalities and inequalities relating the introduced characteristics. In addition, metrically and topologically generic properties of solutions are studied. The special case of a second order linear differential equation is treated in detail.