Multiplicity of periodic solutions for second-order discrete Hamiltonian systems with a small forcing term (Q949731)

The authors consider the following second-order Hamiltonian systems: \[ \Delta^2u(n-1)=\nabla F(n,u(n))+\varepsilon f(n),\quad\forall n\in \mathbb{Z},\tag{*} \] where \(\mathbb{Z}\) is the set of all integers, \(\Delta u(n)=u(n+1)-u(n)\), \(\Delta^2u(n)=\Delta(\Delta u(n))\), \(F(n,\cdot)\in C^2(\mathbb{R}^N,\mathbb{R})\) and \(F(n+T,\cdot)=F(n,\cdot)\) with \(T\) and \(N\) positive integers and \(\mathbb{R}\) the set of all real numbers, \(\Delta F(t,x)\) denotes the gradient of \(F(t,x)\) in \(x\), \(F(n,0)=0\), \(\varepsilon f(n)\) is considered as a small forcing term with \(|\varepsilon|>0\), \(f:\mathbb{Z}\to\mathbb{R}^N\) and \(f(n+T)=f(n)\). Some sufficient conditions for the existence of three periodic solutions of Eq. (*) are obtained the main method used to prove their results is a three-critical-point theorem.