A geometrical approach to periodically forced dynamical systems in presence of a separatrix

ABSTRACT. We consider the periodic boundary value problem for the non-autonomous scalar second order equation x''+F(x,x')=e(t); with e(t) a continuous and T-periodic forcing term. Using a continuation theorem adapted from Capietto et al. (Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 329 (1992) 41–72), we propose some new conditions for the existence of T-periodic solutions to the forced equation in terms of the dynamical properties of the trajectories of the associated autonomous equation x''+F(x,x')=0: Special emphasis will be addressed to the study of the case in which the presence of an unbounded separatrix for the autonomous system in the phase-plane allows to obtain a priori bounds for the T-periodic solutions of the homotopic equation x''+F(x,x')=l*e(t).