Homoclinic solutions of nonlinear second-order Hamiltonian systems (Q325952)

The article addresses the existence of homoclinic solutions to a nonautonomous differential equation of the form \[ -\ddot{x}(t) = B(t)x(t)+\nabla_x V(t,x(t)). \] The condition \[ \lim_{|t|\to\infty} \int_t^{t+1} |b_{jk}(s)|\,\mathrm{d}s =0 \] on the components \(b_{jk}(t)\) of the symmetric matrix \(B(t)\) implies that the essential spectrum \([0,\infty)\) of the linear part is the same as for the case \(B(t)= 0\). Using linking methods and Sandwich Pair theorems the author shows the existence of a homoclinic solution under different assumptions including sublinear and superlinear growth. In particular, conditions are given under which the system possesses ground state solutions, i.e., solutions minimizing the energy functional.