Conditional stability for a class of second-order differential equations (Q812710)

This paper investigates the asymptotic behaviour of bounded solutions of the equation \[ u''=a(t)u+F(t,u), \quad t\geq t_0\geq 0,\tag{1} \] with \(a(t)=m^2+b(t)\). If \(b(t)\) is continuous and absolutely integrable on \([t_0,+\infty)\), the equation \[ u''=a(t)u,\quad t\geq t_0\geq 0, \] has a solution \(y(t)\) such that \(y(t)\sim e^{mt}\) as \(t\rightarrow+\infty\). Therefore, one cannot expect stability of the trivial solution of equation (1). It can be introduced the notion of conditional stability in the sense that there exists a family of solutions of equation (1) which vanish as \(t\rightarrow+\infty\). Using two classes of test functions introduced by the authors, a criterion for conditional stability of the trivial solution of the second-order semi-linear differential equation (1) is established.