General existence principles for Stieltjes differential equations with applications to mathematical biology (Q683799)

The paper is concerned with the so-called Stieltjes differential equations, i.e., equations of the form \[ x'_g(t)=f(t,x(t)),\quad t\in[t_0,t_1],\tag{1} \] where \(x\) is a real-valued function, \(g:[t_0,t_1]\to\mathbb R\) is a left-continuous nondecreasing function, and \(x'_g\) stands for the derivative of \(x\) with respect to \(g\). Equations of this type were introduced in the paper [\textit{M. Frigon} and the first author, Adv. Nonlinear Anal. 6, No. 1, 13--36 (2017; Zbl 1361.34010)], where it was also shown that they encompass dynamic equations on time scales, as well as ordinary differential equations with impulses. The equivalent integral form of a Stieltjes differential equation is \[ x(t)=x(t_0)+\int_{[t_0,t)}f(s,x(s))\,\text{d}\mu_g(s),\quad t\in[t_0,t_1], \] where the integral on the right-hand side is the Lebesgue-Stieltjes integral with respect to the measure generated by \(g\). Therefore, each solution of the Stieltjes differential equation is also a solution of the so-called measure differential equation \[ x(t)=x(t_0)+\int_{t_0}^t f(s,x(s))\,\text{d}g(s),\quad t\in[t_0,t_1], \] where the integral on the right-hand side is the Kurzweil-Stieltjes integral. Equations of this type were studied e.g. in the paper [\textit{G. Antunes Monteiro} and \textit{A. Slavík}, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 444, No. 1, 568--597 (2016; Zbl 1356.34094)], which contains some results on the existence of extremal solutions. By utilizing these results, the authors of the present paper show that if \(f\) is a \(g\)-Carathéodory function, \(u\mapsto u+f(t,u)(g(t+)-g(t))\) is nondecreasing for each \(t\), and equation (1) has a lower solution \(\alpha\) and an upper solution \(\beta\) with the same initial value at \(t_0\), then it has the extremal solutions between \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\). The next part of the paper provides sufficient conditions for the existence of extremal solutions to a large class of functional problems having the form \[ x'_g(t)=f(t,x(t),x),\quad B(x(t_0),x)=0, \] provided that the problem possesses a lower and an upper solution. It is assumed that the right-hand side \(f\) is nondecreasing in the last argument, and the functional \(B\) is nonincreasing in the last argument. The proof is based on a fixed point theorem for nondecreasing mappings in ordered metric spaces. In the next section, the authors return to the non-functional equation (1) and provide a new result on the existence of extremal solutions which does not require \(f\) to be continuous or monotone in the second argument; instead it is assumed that \[ \lim\sup_{y\to x-}f(t,y)\leq f(t,x)\leq \lim\inf_{y\to x+}f(t,y) \] for all \(t\) and \(x\), and, as before \(u\mapsto u+f(t,u)(g(t+)-g(t))\) is nondecreasing. The final two sections present two models of silkworm populations. Such populations exhibit dormant states as well as impulsive behavior (egg hatching), both of which can be described using Stieltjes differential equations. The first population model is linear, and can be solved explicitly. The second model is nonlinear, discontinuous, and functional; the authors use their previous results to show that it possesses extremal solutions. The paper is very well written and brings new important ideas and results in the area of equations with discontinuous solutions.