Nontrivial periodic solutions for delay differential systems via Morse theory (Q629311)

The \(N\)-dimensional system \[ \dot x(t) = f(x(t - \tau)) \] (with \( x(t) \in {\mathbb R}^N\) and with delay \( \tau\)) is considered under the following assumptions: \(f\) is odd, asymptotically linear at \( x = 0\) and for \( |x| \to \infty\), and \(f = \nabla F\) for some function \(F: {\mathbb R} ^N \to {\mathbb R}\). Different types of growth estimates for the nonlinear part of \(f\) are used. The \( 4\tau\)-periodic solutions of the system with the symmetry \( x(t + 2\tau) = -x(t)\) are characterized as the critical points of a suitable functional \(J\) on a subspace of \(H^{1/2}(S^1,{\mathbb R}^N)\) (the functional analytic framework is not always completely clear.) Using Fourier expansion and the asymptotic conditions on \(f\), the authors show that restrictions \(J_k\) of \(J\) to finite-dimensional subspaces have different critical groups at zero and at infinity, and thus possess critical points \(x_k \; (k = 0,1,2,...)\). Periodic solutions of the system (critical points of \(J\)) are then obtained from a Palais-Smale-sequence argument, applied to the sequence \((x_k)\).