Periodic solutions for a class of nonlinear 2\(n\)th-order differential equations (Q708492)

The paper deals with a \(2n^{th}\)-order nonlinear differential equation of the type \[ u^{(2n)}(t)+a(u^{(n)}(t)) u^{(n+1)}(t)- P(u'(t))u''(t)+f(u(t))u'(t)-g(t,u(t))=e(t), \] where \(n\geq 2\) is an even integer, \(g:\mathbb R^2\rightarrow \mathbb R\) is continuous, \(T\)-periodic in \(t\), \(a,P,f:\mathbb R\rightarrow R\) are continuous, and \(e:\mathbb R\rightarrow \mathbb R\) is continuous, \(T\)-periodic with \(\int_0^T e(t)\,dt=0\). Applying Mawhin's continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory, under appropriate hypotheses, the existence of \(T\)-periodic solutions is established. Applications to fourth-order equations are given. Such equations find applications in fluid mechanics and nonlinear elasticity mechanics.