Periodic solutions to nonautonomous difference equations (Q748777)

The equation \(x_{n+1}=f_ n(x_ n)\), \(n=0,1,..\). with \(f_{n+T}(x)=f_ n(x)\) for all n is discussed. A special class C of functions is introduced for which a periodic solution of the equation exists and also the asymptotics of all other solutions can be characterized. The second part of the paper analyses in detail the equation \(x_{n+1}=a_ nx_ n/(1+b_ nx_ n),\) with \(a_ n,b_ n\) positive, bounded and periodic of integer period T, which belongs to the described class for \(a_ n>1\). The relevance of these results to some models in mathematical biology is discussed.