No label defined (Q4208366)

The following delay differential equation is considered \[ y'(t)+p(t)f(y(t-\tau))-q(t)g(y(t-\sigma))=0 , \quad t\geq t_0 , \] with \(p,q\in C([t_0,\infty),(0,\infty))\), \(\tau,\sigma\in(0,\infty)\) and \(f,g\in C(\mathbb{R},\mathbb{R})\) with \(u f(u)>0\) and \(u g(u)>0\) for \(u\neq 0\). It is proved that under appropriate assumptions, every solution (or every bounded solution) to this equation oscillates provided every solution to an associated equation of the following form oscillates: \[ z'(t)+\sum_{i=1}^n r_i(t) h_i(z(t-\rho_i))=0 , \quad t\geq t_0 , \] with \(r_i\in C([t_0,\infty),(0,\infty))\), \(\rho_i\in(0,\infty)\), and \(h_i\in C(\mathbb{R},\mathbb{R})\) with \(u h_i(u)>0\) for \(u\neq 0\). This result is applied to some well-known population models.