1 Introduction

In recent years, the existence of periodic solutions for the Rayleigh equation and the Liénard equation has been studied (see [19]). By using topological degree theory, some results on the existence of periodic solutions are obtained.

Motivated by the works in [19], we consider the existence of periodic solutions of the following system:

d d t ϕ p [ ( x ( t ) C x ( t τ ) ) ] + d d t gradF ( x ( t ) ) +gradG ( x ( t ) ) =e(t),
(1.1)

where F C 2 ( R n ,R), G C 1 ( R n ,R), eC(R, R n ) are periodic functions with period T; C= [ c i j ] n × n is an n×n symmetric matrix of constants, τR is a constant. ϕ p : R n R n is given by

ϕ p (u)= ϕ p ( u 1 ,, u n ):= ( | u 1 | p 2 u 1 , , | u n | p 2 u n ) T ,1<p<.

The ϕ p is a homeomorphism of R n with the inverse ϕ q . By using the theory of coincidence degree, we obtain some results to guarantee the existence of periodic solutions. Even for p=2, the results in this paper are also new.

In what follows, we use , to denote the Euclidean inner product in R n and | | p to denote the l p -norm in R n , i.e., | x | p = ( i = 1 n | x i | p ) 1 / p .

The norm in R n × n is defined by A p = sup | x | ρ = 1 , x R n | A x | p .

The corresponding L p -norm in L p ([0,T], R n ) is defined by

x p = ( i = 1 n 0 T | x i ( t ) | p d t ) 1 p = ( 0 T | x ( t ) | p p d t ) 1 p ,

and the L -norm in L ([0,T], R n ) is

x = max 1 i n x i ,

where x i = sup t [ 0 , ω ] | x i (t)| (i=1,,n).

Let W= W 1 , p ([0,T],R] be the Sobolev space.

Lemma 1.1 (See [8])

Suppose uW and u(0)=u(T)=0, then

u p ( T π p ) u p ,

where

π p =2 0 ( p 1 ) 1 / p d s ( 1 s p p 1 ) 1 / p = 2 π ( p 1 ) 1 / p p sin ( π p ) .

In order to use coincidence degree theory to study the existence of T-periodic solutions for (1.1), we rewrite (1.1) in the following form:

{ ( x ( t ) C x ( t τ ) ) ( t ) = ϕ q ( y ( t ) ) , y ( t ) = d d t grad F ( x ( t ) ) grad G ( x ( t ) ) + e ( t ) .
(1.2)

If z(t)= ( x ( t ) y ( t ) ) is a T-periodic solution of (1.2), x(t) must be a T-periodic solution of (1.1). Thus, the problem of finding a T-periodic solution for (1.1) reduces to finding one for (1.2).

Let C T ={xC(R, R n ):x(t+T)x(t)} with the norm x = max 1 i n x i , X=Z={z= ( x ( ) y ( ) ) C(R, R 2 n ):z(t+T)z(t)} with the norm z=max{ x , y }. Clearly, X and Z are Banach spaces.

Denote the operator A by

A: C T C T ,(Ax)(t)=x(t)Cx(tτ).

Meanwhile, let

L : Dom L X Z , ( L z ) ( t ) = z ( t ) = ( ( A x ) ( t ) y ( t ) ) , N : X Z , ( N z ) ( t ) = ( ϕ q ( y ( t ) ) d d t grad F ( x ( t ) ) grad G ( x ( t ) ) + e ( t ) ) : = H ( z , t ) .

It is easy to see that KerL= R 2 n , ImL={zZ: 0 T z(s)ds=0}. So, L is a Fredholm operator with index zero. Let P:XKerL and Q:ZImQ be defined by

P u = 1 T 0 T u ( s ) d s , u X ; Q v = 1 T 0 T v ( s ) d s , v Z ,

and let K p denote the inverse of L | Ker P Dom L .

Obviously, KerL=ImQ= R 2 n and

( K p z)(t)= ( ( A 1 F x ) ( t ) ( F y ) ( t ) ) ,
(1.3)

where z= ( x T ( ) , y T ( ) ) T Z, (Fh)(t)= 0 t h(s)ds 1 T 0 T 0 t h(s)dsdt, h C T .

From (1.3), one can easily see that N is L-compact on Ω ¯ , where Ω is an open bounded subset of X.

Lemma 1.2 (See [9])

Suppose that λ 1 , λ 2 ,, λ n are eigenvalues of the matrix C. If | λ i |1, i{1,2,,n}, then A has a continuous bounded inverse A 1 with the following relationships:

  1. (1)

    A 1 u ( i = 1 n 1 | 1 | λ i | | )u, u C T ;

  2. (2)

    A 1 u p p dtσ u p p dt, u C T , p1, where

    σ= { max i { 1 , 2 , , n } { 1 | 1 | λ i | | 2 } , p = 2 , ( i = 1 n 1 | 1 | λ i | | 2 p 2 p ) ( 2 p ) / 2 , p [ 1 , 2 ) , ( i = 1 n 1 | 1 | λ i | | q ) p / q , p ( 2 , + ) ,

    where q is a constant with 1/p+1/q=1;

  3. (3)

    A x = ( A x ) , x C T .

In the proof of our results on the existence of periodic solutions, we use the following generalized Borsuk theorem in coincidence degree theory of Gaines and Mawhin [10].

Lemma 1.3 Let X and Z be real normed vector spaces. Let L be a Fredholm mapping of index zero. Ω is an open bounded subset of X and Ω is symmetric with respect to the origin and contains it. Let N ˜ : Ω ¯ ×[0,1]Z be L-compact and such that

  1. (a)

    N ˜ (x,0)= N ˜ (x,0), x Ω ¯ ,

  2. (b)

    Lx N ˜ (x,λ), xDomLΩ.

Then, for every λ[0,1], the equation Lx= N ˜ (x,λ) has at least one solution in Ω.

2 Main results

Theorem 2.1 Suppose that the matrix C satisfies the conditions of Lemma  1.2 and that there exist constants a>0, b>0, c0 and α>1 such that

  • (H1) y T 2 F ( x ) x 2 ya | y | 2 2 or y T 2 F ( x ) x 2 ya | y | 2 2 , x,y R n ;

  • (H2) y,gradG(x)b | y | α α c, x,y R n .

    Then equation (1.1) has at least one T-periodic solution for 1<p2.

Proof For any λ[0,1], let

N ˜ (z,λ)(t)= 1 + λ 2 H(z,t) 1 λ 2 H(z,t).

Consider the following parameter equation:

(Lz)(t)= N ˜ (z,λ)(t),λ[0,1].
(2.1)

Let z(t)= ( x ( t ) y ( t ) ) be a possible T-periodic solution of (2.3) for some λ[0,1], then x=x(t) is a T-periodic solution of the following system:

( ϕ p ( ( A x ) ( t ) ) ) + 1 + λ 2 d d t grad F ( x ( t ) ) 1 λ 2 d d t grad F ( x ( t ) ) + 1 + λ 2 grad G ( x ( t ) ) 1 λ 2 grad G ( x ( t ) ) = λ e ( t ) .
(2.2)

Noticing that x(t) is a T-periodic solution, we have

A x p p = 0 T A x , ( ϕ p ( A x ) ) dt.
(2.3)

Multiplying the two sides of (2.2) by (Ax)(t) and integrating them on the interval [0,T], by (2.3) and (H1)-(H2), we obtain

A x p p +a A x 2 2 +b A x α α cT e β A x α ,where  1 α + 1 β =1.
(2.4)

On the other hand,

0 T A x , [ ϕ p ( A x ) ] dt=0.

So, multiplying the two sides of (2.2) by (A x )(t) and integrating them on the interval [0,T], by (H1)-(H2), we get

a A x 2 2 cTa A x 2 2 +b A x α α cT e 2 A x 2 .

Furthermore, we have

A x 2 c T a + e 2 2 4 a 2 + e 2 2 a := R 1 .

It is obvious that there exist c 1 >0 and c 2 >0 such that

c 1 | x | 2 | x | p c 2 | x | 2 ,x R n .

Thus,

A x p p = 0 T | ( A x ) ( t ) | p p d t c 2 p ( 0 T | A x ( t ) | 2 2 d t ) p / 2 T ( 2 p ) / 2 ( c 2 R 1 ) p T ( 2 p ) / 2 : = R 2 ,
(2.5)

where 1<p2.

From (2.4) and (2.5), we can see

b A x α α e β A x α cT R 2 a A x 2 2 R 2 ,

from which it follows that there exists a positive number R 3 such that

A x α R 3 .

By using Lemma 1.2, we get

x α = ( 0 T | x ( t ) | α α d t ) 1 / α = ( 0 T | A 1 ( A x ) ( t ) | α α d t ) 1 / α σ 1 / α ( 0 T | ( A x ) ( t ) | α α d t ) 1 / α σ 1 / α R 3 : = R 4 .
(2.6)

From (2.6), there exists t 0 [0,T) such that | x ( t 0 ) | α R 4 T 1 / α , and

| x i ( t ) | = | x i ( t 0 ) + t 0 t x i ( s ) d s | R 4 T 1 / α + T ( 0 T ( x i ( s ) ) 2 d s ) 1 / 2 R 4 T 1 / α + T R 1 : = R 5 .

Therefore x R 5 and | x ( t ) | p n 1 / p R 5 .

Since F C 2 ( R n ,R), G C 1 ( R n ,R), there exist R 6 and R 7 such that

2 F ( x ) x 2 p R 6 , | grad G ( x ) | p R 7 for  | x | p n 1 / p R 5 .

From (2.4), we have

0 T | ( ϕ p ( A x ) ) | p d t R 6 0 T | x | p d t + R 7 T + 0 T | e ( t ) | p d t R 6 T 1 / q x p + R 7 T + 0 T | e ( t ) | p d t R 6 T 1 / q R 2 1 / p + R 7 T + 0 T | e ( t ) | p d t : = R 8 .

Clearly, for each i=1,,n, there exists t i (0,T) such that x i ( t i )=0. Thus, for any t[0,T], we have

| y i ( t ) | = | ϕ p ( ( A x i ) ( t ) ) | = | ϕ p ( ( A x i ) ( t ) ) ϕ p ( ( A x i ) ( t i ) ) | = | t i t ( ϕ p ( ( A x i ) ( s ) ) ) d s | R 8 .

Therefore y R 8 .

Choose a number R 9 >max( R 5 , R 8 ), and let Ω={zX:z< R 9 }, then Lz N ˜ (z,λ) for any zDomLΩ, λ[0,1]. It is easy to see that N ˜ is L-compact on Ω ¯ ×[0,1], Lz= N ˜ (z,1) is (2.1) and N ˜ (z,0)= N ˜ (z,0). From Lemma 1.3, (2.1) has at least one T-periodic solution z ˜ = ( x ˜ ( t ) y ˜ ( t ) ) , x ˜ (t) is a T-periodic solution of (1.1). □

Theorem 2.2 Let λ =max{| λ 1 |,| λ 2 |,,| λ n |}, where λ 1 , λ 2 ,, λ n are eigenvalues of the matrix C with | λ i |1, i{1,2,,n}. Suppose that there exist constants b0, c0 and d>0 such that

  • (H3) there is a constant r0 such that lim | x | + | grad F ( x ) | | x | p 1 r;

  • (H4) y,gradG(x)b | y | p p +c, x,y R n ;

  • (H5) i{1,,n}, either x i [ G ( x ) x i e ¯ i ]>0 or x i [ G ( x ) x i e ¯ i ]<0 for | x i |>d, where e ¯ i = 1 T 0 T e i (t)dt.

    Then (1.1) has at least one T-periodic solution for ( λ r+b) T π p <σ.

Proof Let z(t)= ( x ( t ) y ( t ) ) be a possible T-periodic solution of (2.1). From assumption (H3), there exists a constant ρ>d such that

| grad F ( x ) | <r | x | p 1 ,x R n  with | x i |>ρ for i=1,2,,n.

From (H3) and (2.2), we have

A x p p + 0 T A x ( t ) , 1 + λ 2 d d t grad F ( x ( t ) ) 1 λ 2 d d t grad F ( x ( t ) ) d t + b x p p + c T λ 0 T x ( t ) , e ( t ) d t e q x p ,

i.e.,

A x p p 0 T C x ( t τ ) , 1 + λ 2 d d t grad F ( x ( t ) ) 1 λ 2 d d t grad F ( x ( t ) ) d t + b x p p + e q x p + c T C x p grad F ( x ( t ) ) p p 1 + b x p p + e q x p + c T λ x p ( r x p p 1 + θ ) + b x p p + e q x p + c T ,
(2.7)

where θ= max | u | n p |gradF(u)| T ( p 1 ) / p .

Integrating both sides of (2.2) over [0,T], we get

1 + λ 2 0 T [ G ( x ( t ) ) x i e ¯ i ] dt 1 λ 2 0 T [ G ( x ( t ) ) x i e ¯ i ] dt=0,i=1,,n.

So, there exist t ˜ i [0,T] such that

1 + λ 2 0 T [ G ( x ( t ˜ i ) ) x i e ¯ i ] dt 1 λ 2 0 T [ G ( x ( t ˜ i ) ) x i e ¯ i ] dt=0,i=1,,n.

From (H4), one can see | x i ( t ˜ i )|d. Let χ i (t)= x i (t+ t ˜ i ) x i ( t ˜ i ), χ(t)= ( χ 1 ( t ) , , χ n ( t ) ) T , then χ(0)=χ(T)=0. By Lemma 1.1, one can obtain

χ p T π p χ p.

Noticing the periodicity of x(t), we have

x i p p = 0 T | x i ( t ) | p d t = 0 T | x i ( t + t ˜ i ) | p d t 0 T ( | χ i ( t ) | + d ) p d t ( χ i p + T 1 / p d ) p .

From Minkovski’s inequality, we have

x p = ( i = 1 n x i p p ) 1 / p ( i = 1 n χ i ( t ) + T 1 / p d ) p χ p + ( n T ) 1 / p d T π p χ p + ( n T ) 1 / p d = T π p x p + ( n T ) 1 / p d .

In view of (2.7) and Lemma 1.2, we get

σ x p p λ x p ( r ( T π p x p + ( n T ) 1 / p d ) p 1 + θ ) + b ( T π p x p + ( n T ) 1 / p d ) p + e q ( T π p x p + ( n T ) 1 / p d ) + c T .
(2.8)

Since ( λ r+b) T π p <σ, from (2.8), there exists a constant R 9 >0 such that

x p R 9 .
(2.9)

Therefore,

x p T π p R 9 + ( n T ) 1 / p d:= R 10 .
(2.10)

From (2.9) and (2.10), we know that the rest of the proof of the theorem is similar to that of Theorem 2.1. □

Remark 2.1 If C 0 n × n , system (1.1) can be reduced to the system in [2].

If C 0 n × n and p=2, system (1.1) can be reduced to the system in [3].

Example 2.1 Consider the following system:

d d t ϕ p [ ( x ( t ) C x ( t τ ) ) ] + d d t gradF ( x ( t ) ) +gradG ( x ( t ) ) =e(t),
(2.11)

where F C 2 ( R 2 ,R), G C 1 ( R 2 ,R), eC(R, R 2 ) are periodic functions with period T; C= ( 1 1 1 0 ) . Clearly, λ 1 , 2 = 1 ± 5 2 ±1.

Let

x= ( x 1 , x 2 ) T ,F( x 1 , x 2 )= x 1 2 + x 2 2 x 1 x 2 2 ,G( x 1 , x 2 )= x 1 4 + x 1 3 1 4 x 1 2 x 2 2 + x 2 4 ,

then, by Theorem 2.1, (2.11) has at least one T-periodic solution for 1<p2.