Abstract
This article examines the oscillatory characteristics of a fourth-order Emden–Fowler differential equation, specifically when it includes a sublinear neutral term. Our methodology centers on establishing multiple theorems that introduce innovative conditions to guarantee that there are no positive solutions to the examined equation. Due to the symmetry between non-oscillatory solutions, we obtain oscillation conditions by excluding only positive solutions. We employ the Riccati technique in various ways to achieve this objective. The criteria presented in this study complement and generalize many findings published in the literature. We support the efficiency of our findings by applying them to an example.
Keywords:
differential equations; oscillatory properties; nonlinear fourth-order equation; neutral delay arguments MSC:
34C10; 34K11
1. Introduction
In this study, we aim to investigate the fourth-order Emden–Fowler delay differential equations (DDE) with a sublinear neutral term, represented by
where . We assume the following throughout this paper:
- (H1)
- and are ratios of two positive odd integers;
- (H2)
- and
- (H3)
- g and
A solution of (1) is defined as a function , which satisfies , , and satisfies (1) on . Only solutions x of (1) that meet the condition
are taken into consideration.
A solution of (1) is said to be non-oscillatory if it is eventually positive or eventually negative; otherwise, it is said to be oscillatory. If every solution to Equation (1) is oscillatory, then the equation is considered oscillatory.
Differential equations (DEs) have long been a milestone of mathematics and its application to the sciences. These equations serve as incredible tools for modeling a wide range of natural phenomena, ranging from population growth to the behavior of electrical circuits, disease spread, and celestial movement. Their importance is appraised by the fact that they offer a systematic approach to understanding and predicting change, making them indispensable in physics, engineering, biology, and numerous other disciplines; see [,,,,].
The qualitative theory of differential inequalities focuses on the study of solution characteristics such as stability, periodicity, symmetry, and oscillation. Research into oscillatory phenomena in differential equations is a crucial and captivating area in both mathematics and applied sciences. Oscillations, characterized by periodic and repetitive patterns, are essential for understanding dynamic processes in various natural and engineered systems. These patterns appear in fields like physics, engineering, biology, and economics, offering valuable insights into system behaviors over time. This study delves into the intricate realm of oscillations in differential equations, aiming to uncover their fundamental principles, explore their applications, and contribute to the growing body of knowledge in this intriguing field (see [,,,,]).
Oscillation criteria play a pivotal role in the study of nonlinear dynamics by providing sufficient criteria for the oscillatory features of solutions to DEs. In various applications, the ability to predict whether a system’s solutions will oscillate or remain steady is crucial. For instance, in mechanical and structural engineering, understanding oscillation helps in designing structures that can withstand periodic forces without leading to resonance, which could result in structural failure. In biological systems, oscillation criteria are essential for modeling phenomena such as cardiac rhythms or neural activity, where oscillatory patterns are indicative of healthy function or pathological conditions. In the realm of electrical engineering, oscillation criteria are fundamental for the design of oscillators and filters in circuits, ensuring that they perform their intended functions efficiently. Furthermore, in control systems engineering, these criteria aid in the design of controllers that manage the dynamic behavior of systems, preventing unwanted oscillations that can cause instability. Thus, oscillation criteria are indispensable tools in nonlinear dynamics, providing insights that help in the prediction, analysis, and control of complex systems across a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines; see [,].
The Emden–Fowler equations, named after Robert Emden and Arthur Fowler, are central to the study of fourth-order differential models, particularly in mathematical physics. These equations are essential for modeling the structure and behavior of stellar objects such as white dwarfs, as they describe the complex relationships between pressure, density, and temperature. This modeling significantly contributes to the understanding of physical processes inside stars and their evolution. The applications of the Emden–Fowler equations extend to various fields. In thermodynamics, these equations describe temperature equilibria in complex thermal systems such as furnaces or geothermal models. In biological sciences and mathematical biology, they are used to model population dynamics and the spread of diseases, such as bacterial growth or virus transmission in different environments. In mechanical engineering and applied physics, they aid in modeling physical processes like fluid flow through porous media or material behavior under specific conditions. In geology, they assist in studying subsurface fluid movement and thermal distribution within the Earth’s crust, aiding in understanding geological formations and optimizing resource extraction; see [,,,].
The prior in-depth literature has enhanced our understanding of oscillatory properties of Emden–Fowler differential equations, with numerous influential authors shaping this area of study. Their significant contributions have left a lasting impact on the field, continuing to influence its direction and outcomes and attracting prominent attention. Below, we highlight some of these significant contributions:
Agarwal et al. [] explored the oscillatory characteristics of DEs with a neutral term, described by
They established several sufficient conditions for the oscillations of these equations, considering the cases
and
Baculíková et al. [] examined the oscillatory properties of neutral differential equations (NDEs), represented by
They introduced new oscillatory criteria under the condition (3).
Zhang et al. [] studied the oscillatory properties of a specific class of NDEs, given by
where Their results simplify the analysis of these equations.
Tamilvanan et al. [] investigated the oscillatory characteristics of the Emden–Fowler DEs, expressed as
Wu et al. [] investigated the oscillatory characteristics of Emden–Fowler DDEs, described by
They introduced new criteria for determining oscillatory behavior under the conditions
and
El-Nabulsi et al. [] studied the oscillation of solutions to DEs characterized by
where for , and condition (2) holds. Related studies by Zhang et al. [] and Moaaz et al. [] further explored the oscillatory properties of (5) under condition (3).
Li and Rogovchenko [] investigated the asymptotic behavior of solutions to a specific class of higher-order Emden–Fowler DDEs of the form
They introduced new theorems that refined and advanced the understanding of these equations.
Graef et al. [] introduced a new technique for linearizing even-order nonlinear NDEs of the form
They developed new oscillation criteria by comparing these equations with first-order linear DDEs.
Baculikova et al. [] and Xing [] established oscillation criteria for a specific class of higher-order quasi-linear NDEs:
subject to condition (2). Alnafisah et al. [] introduced refined properties that optimize the oscillatory characteristics of solutions to Equation (6) under condition (3).
Our research aims to extend the investigation of oscillatory behavior to a specific class of fourth-order NDEs, particularly those with sublinear neutral terms. The motivation of our work is to extend and generalize previous studies (for example, []) that explored the asymptotic properties and oscillatory nature of second-order NDEs.
2. Preliminaries
This section introduces some important preliminary results related to the monotonic properties of non-oscillatory solutions to the equation under study, which contribute significantly to obtaining our results. We start with the following notations:
and
Lemma 1
([]). Suppose that , where has a constant sign and is non-zero on . Additionally, suppose there is such that for every . If , then for any , there is such that
for .
Lemma 2
([]). Let γ be a ratio of two odd positive integers and A and B be constants. Then,
Lemma 3
([]). Let , for , and , eventually. Then, eventually, for every .
Lemma 4
([]). Suppose that x represents an eventually positive solution of (1). In such a case, x will eventually fulfill the conditions of the following scenarios:
for .
Notation 1.
The category denotes the set of all solutions that eventually become positive, with the corresponding function satisfying for . We note that all eventually positive solutions belong to .
3. Auxiliary Lemmas
In the following discussion, we will establish several novel conditions that are adequate for excluding positive solutions that satisfy Equation (1). We will then combine these conditions to derive oscillation criteria.
Lemma 5.
Let us consider . Then, we have
and
Proof.
From (7), we have . Using Lemma 4 for we obtain
Since , we can derive from (11) that
Notably, . Therefore, there exists such that for sufficiently large . By using (7), we conclude that
Given that and we have
Substituting this inequality into (13), we obtain
Finally, based on (1), we can establish
□
Lemma 6.
Proof.
We assume, for the sake of contradiction, that . Now, define the function by
which yields
Since and are positive, and according to Lemma 1, we can deduce that
and
for all and every sufficiently large . Substituting (19) into (18), we obtain
Since we conclude that
Then,
Because and , there exist constants and such that
and
Thus, inequality (20) gives
Using Lemma 2 with
and we can derive the following inequality:
Lemma 7.
Proof.
We assume, for the sake of contradiction, that . Now, define a function by
which yields The derivative is given by
From Lemma 3, we deduce that
and hence,
Since , there exist a and a constant such that
Since then
Thus, inequality (30) gives
Using Lemma 2, with
and we can derive the following inequality:
Lemma 8.
Proof.
We assume, for the sake of contradiction, that . As in the proof of Lemma 5, we have (9) and (10). The function is defined in (16), and then (17) holds. By (1), (16), and (17), we conclude that
By using (19), we observe that
Note that and () hold. Since , we can conclude that . This straightforwardly implies that is nonincreasing. Consequently, there exist constants and such that
and
Lemma 9.
If and there is a such that
hold for some , then
Proof.
We suppose for contradiction that By integrating (10) from to ∞ and utilizing the property that , we derive
As and Lemma 3 implies that for all . Upon integrating this inequality from to we find
Therefore, (40) becomes
Since then
or equivalently,
Upon integrating this inequality from to ∞, the result is obtained as
Now, define
Then, , and
Hence, by (41), we obtain
Because and , there exist constants and such that
and
Using Lemma 2 with , and we obtain
Consequently, (44) leads to
Lemma 10.
If and there is a such that
hold for some , then
Proof.
We begin by assuming, for the sake of contradiction, that . As demonstrated in the proof of Lemma 9, we have (9) and (10). The function is defined in (42), and consequently, (43) holds, which can be expressed as
Since and Lemma 3 implies that
for all and
Integrating (48) from to we obtain
which implies
where . As it follows that which, combined with (49), yields
Hence, inequality (47) becomes
Using Lemma 2 with , and we conclude that
Consequently, (51) leads to
Integrating this inequality from to , we infer that
which contradicts (39) as . Thus, we have completed the proof. □
4. Oscillation Criteria
This section builds on the conclusions from our earlier results to establish new conditions for analyzing the oscillatory properties of all solutions to Equation (1). By merging the criteria previously concluded to rule out positive solutions in both scenarios and , we can formulate the criteria presented in the following theorems. These criteria will help us ascertain the oscillatory features of the examined equation.
Theorem 1.
Proof.
Assume that . Lemma 4 presents two possible cases for and its derivatives. Using Lemmas 6 and 9, it is easy to see that cases and are excluded by conditions (15) and (39), respectively. This ends the proof. □
Theorem 2.
Proof.
This proof follows a method analogous to that of Theorem 1 and thus was omitted. □
Theorem 3.
Proof.
This proof follows a method analogous to that of Theorem 1 and thus was omitted. □
Example 1.
As a result, we have
and
5. Conclusions
This work discussed the oscillatory features of solutions to a class of fourth-order Emden–Fowler DDEs with a sublinear neutral term. We were first able to obtain criteria that excluded all cases of the corresponding function of the positive solutions. Our approach, leveraging the Riccati technique in various ways, has allowed us to derive comprehensive oscillation criteria for the studied equation. As is clear from the remarks, the new findings are a development and extension of previous relevant findings.
Studying the oscillation of DDEs with a sublinear neutral term has many analytical problems. So, our study imposes some restrictions that limit the application of the results to a wider area of equations of this type. Therefore, we propose—as future work—obtaining an oscillation criterion that does not require constraints and and is also considered the noncanonical case.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, F.M. and W.A.; Methodology, F.M., W.A., O.M. and H.E.-M.; Formal analysis, F.M., W.A. and O.M.; Investigation, O.M. and H.E.-M.; Writing—original draft, F.M. and W.A.; Writing—review & editing, O.M. and H.E.-M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2024R157), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Data Availability Statement
Data are contained within the article.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their gratitude and sincere thanks to the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that contributed to improving the final version of the manuscript. The authors would like to thank Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2024R157), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
References
- Hale, J.K. Theory of Functional Differential Equations; Springer: New York, NY, USA, 1987; Volume 2014. [Google Scholar]
- Myshkis, A.D. On solutions of linear homogeneous differential equations of the first order of stable type with a retarded argument. Mat. Sb. 1951, 70, 641–658. [Google Scholar]
- Norkin, S.B. Introduction to the Theory and Application of Differential Equations with Deviating Arguments; Academic Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 1973. [Google Scholar]
- Cooke, K.L. Differential Difference Equations; Academic Press: New York, NY, USA, 1963. [Google Scholar]
- Braun, M. Qualitative Theory of Differential Equations: Differential Equations and Their Applications; Springer: New York, NY, USA, 1993. [Google Scholar]
- Gyori, I.; Ladas, G. Oscillation Theory of Delay Differential Equations with Applications; Clarendon Press: Oxford, UK, 1991. [Google Scholar]
- Zafer, A. Oscillatory and Nonoscillatory Properties of Solutions of Functional Differential Equations and Difference Equations; Iowa State University: Ames, IA, USA, 1992. [Google Scholar]
- Grace, S.R.; Dzurina, J.; Jadlovska, I.; Li, T. On the oscillation of fourth-order delay differential equations. Adv. Differ. Equ. 2019, 2019, 118. [Google Scholar]
- Jiang, Y.; Jiang, C.; Li, T. Oscillatory behavior of third-order nonlinear neutral delay differential equations. Adv. Differ. Equ. 2016, 2016, 207. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, C.; Li, T.; Saker, S.H. Oscillation of fourth-order delay differential equations. J. Math. Sci. 2014, 201, 296–309. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Erbe, L.; Kong, Q.; Zhang, B.G. Oscillation Theory for Functional Differential Eqautions; Marcel Dekker: New York, NY, USA, 1995. [Google Scholar]
- Ladde, G.S.; Lakshmikantham, V.; Zhang, B. Oscillation Theory of Differential Equations with Deviating Arguments; Marcel Dekker: New York, NY, USA, 1987. [Google Scholar]
- Agarwal, R.P.; Bohner, M.; Li, T. Oscillation of second-order Emden-Fowler neutral delay differential equations. Ann. Math. 2014, 193, 1861–1875. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chatzarakis, G.E.; Grace, S.R.; Jadlovská, I. Oscillation criteria for third-order Emden-Fowler differential equations with unbounded neutral coefficients. Complexity 2019, 2019, 5691758. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tian, H.; Guo, R. Some Oscillatory Criteria for Second-Order Emden–Fowler Neutral Delay Differential Equations. Mathematics 2024, 12, 1559. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Feng, Q.; Zheng, B. Oscillation Criteria for Nonlinear Third-Order Delay Dynamic Equations on Time Scales Involving a Super-Linear Neutral Term. Fractal Fract. 2024, 8, 115. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Agarwal, R.P.; Bohner, M.; Li, T. Oscillation of second-order differential equations with a sublinear neutral term. Carpathian J. Math. 2014, 30, 1–6. [Google Scholar]
- Baculíková, B.; Sudha, B.; Thangavelu, K.; Thandapani, E. Oscillation of second order delay differential equations with nonlinear nonpositive neutral term. Math. Slovaca 2022, 72, 103–110. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, C.; Şenel, M.T.; Li, T. Oscillation of second-order half-linear differential equations with several neutral terms. J. Appl. Math. Comput. 2014, 44, 511–518. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tamilvanan, S.; Thandapani, E.; Džurina, J. Oscillation of second order nonlinear differential equations with sub-linear neutral term. Differ. Equ. Appl. 2017. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wu, Y.; Yu, Y.; Xiao, J.; Jiao, Z. Oscillatory behaviour of a class of second order Emden-Fowler differential equations with a sublinear neutral term. Appl. Math. Sci. Eng. 2023, 31, 2246098. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- El-Nabulsi, R.A.; Moaaz, O.; Bazighifan, O. New Results for Oscillatory Behavior of Fourth-Order Differential Equations. Symmetry 2020, 12, 136. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Moaaz, O.; Muhib, A.; Zakarya, M.; Abdel-Aty, A. Delay differential equation of fourth-order: Asymptotic analysis and oscillatory behavior. Alex. Eng. J. 2022, 61, 2919–2924. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Li, T.; Rogovchenko, Y.V. On asymptotic behavior of solutions to higher-order sublinear Emden–Fowler delay differential equations. Appl. Math. Lett. 2017, 67, 53–59. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Graef, J.R.; Grace, S.R.; Tunç, E. Oscillatory behavior of even-order nonlinear differential equations with a sublinear neutral term. Opusc. Math. 2019, 39, 39–47. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Baculikova, B.; Dzurina, J.; Li, T. Oscillation Results for Even-Order Quasilinear Neutral Functional Differential Equations. Electron. Differ. Equ. 2011, 2011, 1–9. [Google Scholar]
- Xing, G.; Li, T.; Zhang, C. Oscillation of higher-order quasi-linear neutral differential equations. Adv. Differ. Equ. 2011, 2011, 45. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Alnafisah, Y.; Masood, F.; Muhib, A.; Moaaz, O. Improved Oscillation Theorems for Even-Order Quasi-Linear Neutral Differential Equations. Symmetry 2023, 15, 1128. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Agarwal, R.P.; Grace, S.R.; O’Regan, D. Oscillation Theory for Difference and Functional Differential Equations; Kluwer Academic: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2000. [Google Scholar]
- Zhang, C.; Agarwal, R.; Bohner, M.; Li, T. New results for oscillatory behavior of even-order half-linear delay differential equations. Appl. Math. Lett. 2013, 26, 179–183. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kiguradze, I.T.; Chanturiya, T.A. Asymptotic Properties of Solutions of Nonautonomous Ordinary Differential Equations; Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1993. [Google Scholar]
- Masood, F.; Moaaz, O.; Santra, S.S.; Fernandez-Gamiz, U.; El-Metwally, H.A. Oscillation theorems for fourth-order quasi-linear delay differential equations. AIMS Math. 2023, 8, 16291–16307. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).