Estimates for principal Lyapunov exponents: a survey (Q483976)

This survey is devoted to the estimate of principal Lyapunov exponents in time-dependent linear systems of differential equations and some of their generalizations. One of the characteristic results is as follows. Consider a system \(T\)-periodic in \(t\) \[ u'=P(t)u \] and assume that the system is strongly cooperative (i.e., the off-diagonal entries of the matrix \(P(t)\) are positive for all \(t\)). Then there exist (and are uniquely determined) a number \(\rho>0\) and a positive solution \(v(t)\) with \(|v(0)|=1\) such that \(v(T)=\rho v(0)\). In this case, \[ \lim_{t\to\infty}(\log|u(t)|)/t=(\log\rho)/T \] for any positive solution \(u(t)\). The survey contains a lot of results for second order parabolic PDEs, almost periodic linear systems of differential equations, systems with random coefficients, cooperative delay differential equations, and so on. Concerning proofs, mostly hints are given.