Multiplicity of forced oscillations for the spherical pendulum acted on by a retarded periodic force (Q504374)

A model of forced oscillations of a spherical pendulum subject to a periodic forcing that can depend on the whole history of the pendulum's motion is considered. The model is described by the parameter dependent family of equations \[ m\,x^{\,\prime\prime}(t)=-m\, \left(|x^\prime(t)|^2/r^2\right)\, x(t)-\eta x^\prime(t)+h(x(t))+\lambda F(t,x_t), \] where \(\lambda>0\) is the parameter, \(h:\mathbf S\to\mathbb R^3\) is a \(C^1\) tangent vector field on the sphere \(\mathbf S\), \(F:\mathbb R\times BU((\-\infty,0], \mathbf S)\to \mathbb R^3\) is a functional field which is \(T\)-periodic in the first variable and locally Lipschitz in the second one, mass \(m>0\) and \(\eta\geq0\) are constants. The existence of multiple periodic solutions of period \(T\) is established for all sufficiently small \(\lambda>0\) by using topological methods. In particular, when unperturbed forcing term is the gravity, two periodic solutions are obtained regardless of the presence of friction or of the form of the perturbing force field.