Existence of \(2\pi\)-periodic solutions for the non-dissipative Duffing equation under asymptotic behaviors of potential function (Q818776)

The authors study a generalized form of the original Duffing equation, first analyzed by Duffing in a study of a free oscillation of a mass-nonlinear spring system \[ mx''+ kx +ax^3= f(t)\tag{1} \] which in a non-dimensional simplified form after assuming that \(a\) is much smaller than \(k\) becomes \[ x''+ g(x)= p(t).\tag{2} \] The forcing term is assumed to be \(2\pi\)-periodic: \(p(t)= p(t+ 2\pi)\). After the initial study of Duffing, the properties of solutions of Duffing (or Duffing-type) equations became a popular topic of research. \textit{J. Mawhin}, \textit{F. Zanolin}, \textit{P. Drabek} and \textit{S. Invernizzi}, the coauthor \textit{Y. Li}, and several other authors, contributed substantially to the understanding of solvability, resonance, and the asymptotic behavior of solutions to this important problem. \textit{E. N. Dancer} and later \textit{S. Fučik} defined the concept of the ``Fučik spectrum''. The ordered pair \(\{\mu> 0, \nu> 0\}\) is called the ``Fučik spectrum'' if the equation \[ x''+\mu x^++ \nu x^-= 0 \] has a \(2\pi\)-periodic solution. Here, \(x^+\) denotes \(\max\{x,0\}\) while \(x^-\) denotes \(\max\{-x,0\}\). Several authors (including Fučik) have shown that the existence of periodic solutions of (1) is closely related to the existence of the Fučik spectrum, and that it depends on the asymptotic behavior of \(g(x)\) and \(G(x)\) where \(G'(x)= g(x)\). The authors list several such results, with corresponding references. The authors' main result states that if \(g(x)/x\) is bounded, and \(\liminf\) and \(\limsup\) of \(2G(x)/x^2\) are also bounded for sufficiently large values of \(|x|\), then equation (1) has at least one \(2\pi\)-periodic solution, provided these bounds satisfy certain additional conditions. They show how this result is an improvement of known results concerning equation (1).