Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

RESEARCH

Open Access

Oscillation of impulsive functional differential

equations with oscillatory potentials and
Riemann-Stieltjes integrals
Zhi Liu and Yuangong Sun*
*

Correspondence:
sunyuangong@yahoo.cn
School of Mathematical Sciences,
University of Jinan, Jinan, Shandong
250022, P.R. China

Abstract
This paper addresses the oscillation problem of a class of impulsive dierential
equations with delays and Riemann-Stieltjes integrals that cover many equations in
the literature. In the case of oscillatory potentials, both El-Sayed type and Kamenev
type oscillation criteria are established by overcoming the diculty caused by
impulses and oscillatory potentials in the estimation of the delayed argument. The
main results not only generalize some existing results but also drop a restrictive
condition imposed on impulse constants. Finally, two examples are presented to
illustrate the theoretical results.
MSC: 34K11
Keywords: oscillation; impulse; delay; Riemann-Stieltjes integral

1 Introduction
Recent years have witnessed a rapid progress in the theory of impulsive dierential equations which provide a natural description of the motion of several real world processes
subject to short time perturbations. Due to many applications in physics, chemistry, population dynamics, ecology, biological systems, control theory, etc. [], the theory of impulsive dierential equations has been extensively studied in [].
We are here concerned with the oscillation problem of impulsive functional dierential
equations. Compared to equations without impulses, the oscillation of impulsive dierential equations receives less attention []. In this paper, we investigate the oscillation
of the following impulsive dierential equation with delay and Riemann-Stieltjes integral:

(r(t)x (t)) + q(t)x(t) +  h p(t, s)|x( (t, s))|(s) sgn x( (t, s)) d (s) = e(t),
x(t + ) = ck x(t ),
k

x (tk+ ) = dk x (tk ),

t = tk ,

()

h
where t t , < h < ; f (s) d (s) denotes the Riemann-Stieltjes integral of the function
f on [, h] with respect to , and : [, h] R is nondecreasing; (s) is a strictly increasing
continuous function on [, h] satisfying () < < (h); {tk }
k= denotes the sequence
of impulse moments satisfying t < t < t < < tk < and limk tk = +; ck ,
dk are positive impulse constants, and ck ; r C [t , ) with r(t) > , q, e C[t , ),
and p C([t , ) [, h]); the time delay (t, s) : [t , ) [, h] [ , ) with t is
continuous, (t, s) t and limt+ (t, s) = + for s [, h].
2012 Liu and Sun; licensee Springer. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 2 of 14

With the choice of (s), (s) and (t, s), we see that Eq. () reduces to many particular
forms considered in the literature. Throughout this paper, we denote
 
x tk = lim x(t),
ttk

 
x(tk + t) x(tk )
.
x tk = lim
t
t

Let J R be an interval. Dene PC(J, R) = {z : J R : z(t) is continuous everywhere

except some tk at which z(tk+ ) and z(tk ) exist and z(tk ) = z(tk )}. By a solution of Eq. (), we
mean a function x(t) PC([t , ), R) such that x (t), x (t) PC([t , ), R), and x(t) satises Eq. () for t [t , ). A solution of Eq. () is said to be oscillatory if it is dened on
some ray [T, ) with T t , and has arbitrarily large zeros. Otherwise, it is called nonoscillatory. Eq. () is said to be oscillatory if all of its nonconstant solutions dened for all
large T > are oscillatory.
Recently, there have been many papers devoted to the oscillation problem for some particular cases of Eq. (). When there are no impulses and (t, s) (t), Sun and Kong []
established some interval oscillation criteria for the following equation:




r(t)x (t) + q(t)x(t) +


 (s)


p(t, s) x (t) sgn x (t) d (s) = e(t),

()

which generalize and improve some results for second-order dierential equations with
mixed nonlinearities in [, ].
For the case of impulse, zbekler and Zafer [, ] studied forced oscillation of a class
of super-half-linear dierential equations. Without considering the inuence of forced
term, some oscillation criteria were given in []. Liu and Xu [] studied the oscillation
of a forced mixed type Emden-Fowler equation (a particular case of Eq. ())

(r(t)x (t)) + q(t)x(t) +

n p (t)|x(t)|i x(t) = e(t),
i= i
 +
x( + ) = ck x( ),
x ( ) = dk x ( ),
k

t = k ,

()

where {k }
k= is the sequence of impulse moments, > > m > > m+ > > n > , r,
q, pi , e are real valued continuous functions on [t , ) and r(t) > . We note that a restrictive condition is imposed on impulse constants that dk ck in []. Some oscillation
results for the second-order forced mixed nonlinear impulsive dierential equation were
also established in [, ].
Zafer [] investigated a class of second-order sublinear delay impulses dierential
equation



x (t) + p(t)x(t) + p(t)|x( (t))| x( (t)) = ,

x (t)|t=k + qk |x( (k ))| x( (k )) = ,

x(t)|t=k = ,

t = k ,
()

where {k }
k= is the sequence of impulse moments and < < . The author established
oscillation criteria in two cases of (t) t and (t) = t. We see that x(t) is additionally
assumed to be continuous in [].

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 3 of 14

In our recent paper [], we further extend the main results in [] to Eq. () with
(t, s) = t. However, the oscillation problem of Eq. () remains untouched in [] for the
case of oscillatory potentials.
Generally speaking, some ideas to oscillation of dierential equations without impulses
can also be applied to impulsive dierential equations. For example, the idea to interval
oscillation in [] and the idea of dealing with mixed nonlinearities in []. However,
when the potentials q, p and e are allowed to change signs, it is dicult to deal with the
delayed argument x( (t, s)) for Eq. () as that for dierential equations without impulses in
[]. In this paper, we will overcome diculties caused by oscillatory potentials, delayed
argument and impulses, and establish both El-Sayed type and Kamenev type interval oscillation criteria for Eq. ().
The main contribution of this paper is threefold. First, in the case of oscillatory potentials, we present an estimation on x( (t, s))/x(t) in a bounded interval, which plays a key
role in the proof of the main results. Second, the redundant restriction on impulse constants ck and dk that dk ck is removed by introducing particular El-Sayed type functions
in [] and using Kongs technique in [] many times based on the number of impulse
moments in a bounded interval. Finally, both impulse, delay and Riemann-Stieltjes integral
are taken into consideration in this paper. Therefore, most of mixed type Emden-Fowler
equations considered in the literature are included as special cases.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In Section , some important lemmas are given. Interval oscillation criteria of the El-Sayed type and the Kong type are established in Section . Finally, two examples are given in Section .

2 Preliminaries
Throughout this paper, we suppose that there are limited impulse moments in any
bounded time interval. For the sake of convenience, we introduce the following notations.
Denote
(a) = min{k|tk > a, tk > t },

(b) = max{k|t < tk < b},

where b > a > t are constants. It is easy to see that t(a) , t(a)+ , t(a)+ , . . . , t(b) are all impulse moments in the interval (a, b).
The following two lemmas are crucial in the proof of our main results.
Lemma . For given constants b > a t , assume that x(t), x (t), x (t) PC((a, b), R),
x(t) > (< ) and (r(t)x (t)) ( ) for t (a, b). Then we have
x (t)

,
x(t)
r(t)R(a, t)

t (a, b),

()

where


R(a, t) =
t(t)

ds
+
r(s) d(t)

t(t)

t(t)

ds
+ +
r(s)

(t)


dk

k=(a)



t(a)
a


ds
.
r(s)

Proof It is sucient to prove one of the cases when x(t) > on (a, b) and (r(t)x (t))
for t (a, b). The other case can be proved similarly. By Eq. () and ck , we have that for

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 4 of 14

t (a, b),
+  +     
+ x t(t) x t(t) + x t(t)
x(t) x(t) x t(t)

 
+
x(a)
x t(t) + + x t(a)
 t(t)
 t
x (s) ds + (c(t) )x(t(t) ) +
x (s) ds + (c(t) )x(t(t) )
=
t(t)

+ +


t(t)

t(a)+

t(a)
t

x (s) ds + (c(a) )x(t(a) ) +

x (s) ds +

t(t)

x (s) ds + +

t(t)

t(t)

t(a)+

t(a)

x (s) ds

a


t(a)

x (s) ds +

t(a)

Since (r(t)x (t)) for t (a, b) and t = tk , and x (tk ) = x (tk ) =

that

x (s) ds.

()

 +
x (tk ),
dk

we get from ()

 t(t)
 t(a)

r(s)x (s) ds +
r(s)x (s) ds + +
r(s)x (s) ds
r(s)
t(t) r(s)
t(t) r(s)
a

 t
  t(t)

ds + r(t(t) )x t(t)

ds
r(t)x (t)
t(t) r(s)
t(t) r(s)


 t(a)

+ + r(t(a) )x t(a)
ds
r(s)
a
 t

r(t)x (t) t(t)

ds +
ds
r(t)x (t)
d(t) t(t) r(s)
t(t) r(s)
 t(a)
r(t)x (t)

+ +
ds
d(t) d(t) d(a) a
r(s)


x(t)

= r(t)x (t)R(a, t),

i.e.,

x (t)

,
x(t)
r(t)R(a, t)

t (a, b).

This completes the proof of Lemma ..

Remark We see that R(a, t) is a piecewise continuous function on (a, b). When there is
t
ds. When there is only one impulse moment
no impulse moment on (a, t), R(a, t) = a r(s)
tk on (a, b), we have

t
R(a, t) = at

ds
,
r(s)
ds

tk r(s) + dk

 tk
a

t (a, tk ],
ds
,
r(s)

t (tk , b).

Lemma . For given constants b > a t , assume that x(t), x (t), x (t) PC((a, b), R),
x(t) > (< ) and (r(t)x (t)) ( ) for t (ab , b), where ab = min{ (t, s) : (t, s)

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 5 of 14

(a, b) [, h]}. Then we have

  t

x( (t, s))

exp
du
x(t)
(t,s) r(u)R(ab , u)

(t)

k=( (t,s))

,
ck

(t, s) (ab , b) [, h],

()

where R(ab , t) is dened as in Lemma ..

Proof It is sucient to prove the case when x(t) > and (r(t)x (t)) for t (ab , b). By
Lemma ., we obtain

x (t)

,
x(t)
r(t)R(ab , t)

t (ab , b).

()

Noting that
 
 
x(t + )
ln x tk+ ln x tk = ln k = ln ck ,
x(tk )
and t( (t,s)) , t( (t,s))+ , . . . , t(t) ( (t, s), t) are all impulse moments, we have that
ln

 

 +    + 
x(t)
+ ln x t(t) ln x t(t)
= ln x(t) ln x t(t)
x( (t, s))
  
+

 +



+ ln x t(t)
ln x t(t)
+ + ln x t(
(t,s)) ln x t( (t,s))



 
+ ln x t(
(t,s)) ln x (t, s)


=
t(t)

x (s)
ds +
x(s)

t(t)
t(t)

x (s)
ds + +
x(s)

t( (t,s))

(t,s)

x (s)
ds +
x(s)

(t)


ln ck ,

k=( (t,s))

i.e.,
x(t)
ln
=
x( (t, s))

(t,s)

x (s)
ds +
x(s)

(t)


ln ck .

k=( (t,s))

Integrating () from (t, s) to t with (t, s) (ab , b) [, h], we get

ln

x(t)

x( (t, s))

t
(t,s)

du +
r(u)R(ab , u)

(t)


ln ck .

k=( (t,s))

Therefore,
 t


x(t)
exp
du
x( (t, s))
(t,s) r(u)R(ab , u)

(t)


ck ,

k=( (t,s))

which implies (). The proof of Lemma . is complete.

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 6 of 14

Remark For the sake of convenience, we denote

 
m(t, s; a, b)  exp



du
r(u)R(ab , u)

(t,s;a,b)

(t)

k=( (t,s))

.
ck

()

It is easy to see that m(t, s; a, b) is a piecewise continuous function on [a, b] for given s
[, h].
We denote by L (, h) the set of Riemann-Stieltjes integrable functions on [, h] with
respect to . Let c (, h) such that (c) = . We further assume that L (, h) such
that


d (s) > ,

d (s) > .
c

We see that the condition L (, h) is satised if either () > or (s) slowly

as s +, or (s) is constant in a right neighborhood of .
The following two lemmas are given in [].
Lemma . Let




(s) d (s)

l =

d (s)

and




l =

(s) d (s)

d (s)

Then for any (l , l ), there exists L (, b) such that (s) > on [, h],


(s)(s) d (s) = ,

()

(s) d (s) = .

()

and


Lemma . Let C[, h] and L (, h) satisfying , > on [, h] and

h
(s) d (s) = . Then



(s)(s) d (s) exp




(s) ln (s) d (s) ,

where we use the convention that ln = and e = .

()

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 7 of 14

3 Main results
Let

(aj , bj ) = C [aj , bj ], (t)  ,


(aj ) = (t(aj ) ) = = (t(bj ) ) = (bj ) = ,

for j = , .
Theorem . If for any T t , there exist constants aj , bj t for j = , such that T
a < b a < b , and

p(t, s) ,
e(t) ,

(t, s) (a , b ) [, h] (a , b ) [, h];
t (a , b );

e(t) ,

t (a , b ).

For each (l , l ), let L (, h) be dened as in Lemma .. Assume further that there

exist (aj , bj ) and C ((a , b ) (a , b ), (, )) such that


bj 

aj



(t) (t) q(t) + (t, s; aj , bj )


 

 (t)
r(t)(t)  (t) +
dt > ,
(t)

(t)

j = , ,

where


|e(t)|
(t, s; aj , bj ) =


exp


p(t, s)[m(t, s; aj , bj )](s)
(s) ln
d (s) ,
(s)

()

and m(t, s; aj , bj ) is dened as (). Then Eq. () is oscillatory.

Proof Assume, for the sake of contradiction, that there exists a solution x(t) of Eq. ()
which does not have zero in (a , b ) (a , b ). Without loss of generality, we may assume
that x(t) > for t (a , b ). When x(t) < for t (a , b ), the proof follows the same argument by using the interval (a , b ) instead of (a , b ). Put
u(t) = (t)

r(t)x (t)
,
x(t)

t (a , b ).

()

We have
(r(t)x (t))
r(t)(x (t))
r(t)x (t)
(t)
+ (t)
x(t)
x(t)
x (t)


h
 
(s)
 (t)
(t)
=
u(t) + (t)q(t) +
p(t, s) x (t, s)
d (s) e(t)
(t)
x(t)

u (t) =  (t)

u (t)
.
(t)r(t)

()

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 8 of 14

By Lemma ., we have that for t (a , b )

(t)
x(t)



 
(s)
p(t, s) x (t, s)
d (s) e(t)

= (t)

p(t, s)


(t)

x( (t, s))
x(t)

(s)

x(t)(s) d (s)

(t)e(t)
x(t)


(s)
(t)e(t)
.
p(t, s) m(t, s; a , b )
x(t)(s) d (s)
x(t)

Similar to the analysis in the proof of Theorem . in [], we can get from Lemmas .
and . that
 (t)
u (t)
u(t) + (t)q(t) + (t) (t, s; a , b ) +
,
(t)
(t)r(t)

u (t)

t (a , b ), t = tk .

()

By the denition of (t), multiplying both sides of () by (t), integrating over (a , b )

and using integration by parts, we get




 (t)
(t) dt
(t) (t) q(t) + (t, s; a , b ) r(t)(t)  (t) +

(t)
a



 b

 (t)

u(t)(t) + r(t)(t)  (t) +

(t)
dt.
+

(t)
a r(t)(t)

()

Noting that the second term of the right-hand side of () is nonnegative, we get


b 


 


 (t)
(t)
(t) (t) q(t) + (t, s; a , b ) r(t)(t)  (t) +
dt.

(t)

This contradicts the assumption.

Next, we will establish a Kamenev type interval oscillation criterion for Eq. (). First, we
introduce a class of functions H which will be used in the sequel. Denote D = {(t, t * )|t
t * t} and H C(D, R). A function H is said to belong to the class H if there exist h , h
Lloc (D, R) satisfying the following conditions:
(A) H(t, t) = , H(t, t * ) > for t > t * ;
(A) t H(t, t * ) = h (t, t * )H(t, t * ), t * H(t, t * ) = h (t, t * )H(t, t * ).
For two constants , ( < ), we dene two operators P , P by
 




(t)
+ h (t, ) dt,
H(t, ) (t) q(t) + (t, s; , ) r(t)(t)

(t)

 





(t)
P ( , ) =
+ h (, t) dt,
H(, t) (t) q(t) + (t, s; , ) r(t)(t)

(t)

P ( , ) =

where (t, s; , ) is dened as in Theorem ..

Noticing that t(aj ) , t(aj )+ , t(aj )+ , . . . , t(bj ) are all impulse moments in the interval (aj , bj )
for j = , , we denote the number of impulse moments between aj and bj by nj := nj (aj , bj ) =

(bj ) (aj ) + for j = , . We also mean m

n=l = if m < l.

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 9 of 14

Theorem . Suppose that for any T , there exist nontrivial subintervals (a , b ) and
(a , b ) of [T, ), satisfying the conditions of Theorem .. Further assume that for j = , ,
there exist constants j ((bj ), bj ) and a function H H such that
(i) when nj = (bj ) (aj ) + (j = , ) is an odd number,


P (aj , t(aj ) )
H(t(aj ) , aj )

<

nj

n=

n=

P (t(aj )+n , t(aj )+n )

H(t(aj )+n , t(aj )+n )

nj

n=


c(aj )+n

P (t(aj )+n , t(aj )+n+ )

d
H(t
, t(aj )+n )
(a
)+n
(a
)+n+
j
j
n=

c(aj )+nj

P (t(aj )+nj , bj ) ;
+
d(aj )+nj H(bj , t(aj )+nj )

()

(ii) when nj (j = , ) is an even number,



P (aj , t(aj ) )
H(t(aj ) , aj )

<

nj

n=

n=

P (t(aj )+n , t(aj )+n )

H(t(aj )+n , t(aj )+n )

nj

n=


c(aj )+n

P (t(aj )+n , t(aj )+n+ )

d
H(t
, t(aj )+n )
(a
)+n
(a
)+n+
j
j
n=


P (t(aj )+nj , j ) +
P (j , bj ) .
+
H(j , t(aj )+nj )
H(bj , j )
+

()

Then Eq. () is oscillatory.

Proof Otherwise, we may assume that x(t) > for t (a , b ). Proceeding as in the proof
of Theorem ., we have that () holds for t (a , b ) and t = tk . Next, we consider the
following two cases:
(i) n , the number of impulse moments in the interval (a , b ), is odd;
(ii) n is an even number.
For the case (i), we rst consider the subinterval (a , t(a )+ ]. Multiplying both sides of ()
by H(t, a ), then integrating it from a to t(a ) , and using integration by parts, we obtain
H(t(a ) , a )u(t(a ) )

 


 t(a )



(t)
u (t)

H(t, a ) (t) q(t) + (t, s; a , b ) +

+ h (t, a ) u(t) +
dt
(t)
(t)r(t)
a

 t(a )



H(t, a ) (t) q(t) + (t, s; a , b )

=
a

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 10 of 14



 (t)
u(t)
+
+ h (t, a )
r(t)(t) (t)
 
 

(t)
dt.
+ h (t, a )
r(t)(t)

(t)


+ r(t)(t)

It implies that
H(t(a ) , a )u(t(a ) )
 

 
 t(a )



(t)
dt

+ h (t, a )
H(t, a ) (t) q(t) + (t, s) r(t)(t)

(t)
a
= P (a , t(a ) ).

()

On the other hand, multiplying both sides of () by H(t(a )+ , t), integrating it from t(a )
to t(a )+ , and similar to the above analysis, we can get
H(t(a )+ , t(a ) )

d(a )
u(t(a ) ) P (t(a ) , t(a )+ ).
c(a )

Dividing () and () by H(t(a ) , a ) and

them, we have

H(t(a ) , a )

P (a , t(a ) ) +

d(a )
H(t(a )+ , t(a ) ),
c(a )

()

respectively, and adding

c(a )

P (t(a ) , t(a )+ ).
d(a ) H(t(a )+ , t(a ) )

For the remaining intervals, similar to the analysis in Theorem . in [], we have that
for t (a , b ),

H(t(a ) , a )
n
n=


n=

P (a , t(a ) )

P (t(a )+n , t(a )+n )

H(t(a )+n , t(a )+n )

n
n=

+
+

 c(a )+n

P (t(a )+n , t(a )+n+ )

d
H(t
, t(a )+n )
(a
)+n
(a
)+n+

n=

c(a )+n

P (t(a )+n , b ).
d(a )+n H(b , t(a )+n )

It can be concluded similarly for the case (ii) that

H(t(a ) , a )
n
n=


n=

n
n=

P (a , t(a ) )

P (t(a )+n , t(a )+n )

H(t(a )+n , t(a )+n )

 c(a )+n

P (t(a )+n , t(a )+n+ )

d
H(t
(a )+n
(a )+n+ , t(a )+n )
n=

()

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 11 of 14

P (t(a )+n , )
H( , t(a )+n )

P ( , b ),
H(b , )

t (a , b ).

()

We see that () and () contradict () and (), respectively. The proof is complete. 

4 Examples
In this section, we give two examples to illustrate our main results. To simplify the computation, we focus our attention on the simple case (s) = s for Eq. ().
Example . Consider the following impulsive dierential equation:

x (t) + x(t) + sin t  |x(t )| s sgn x(t ) ds = e(t),

 +

x(t + ) = ck x(t ),
x (t ) = dk x (t ),
k

t = tk ,

()

where is a positive constant, ck , dk > are constants, t , tk = k + for k =

, , , . . . , r(t) = q(t) = , p(t, s) = sin t, (t, s) = t , (s) = s and h = . For any T ,
we choose k large enough such that k T and let a = k , a = b = k + and
b = k + . Then we have p(t, s) for t (a , b ) (a , b ). Assume that e(t) C[, )
is any function satisfying ()j e(t) on [aj , bj ] (j = , ). Let (s) = . It is easy to verify
that () and () are valid for = ,

R(a b , t) =

t
t




t k, k +
,

ds = ,
r(s)

and

R(a b , t) =

k +

ds
+
r(s) dk

k +

ds
r(s)




k + t
= t k +
dk

(dk )(t k ) +
,
=
dk




t k + , k +
.

Since
 
m(t, s; a , b ) = exp

R(a b , u)


du

(t)

k=(t )

,
ck

we have

m (t, s; a , b ) =

,
e

(dk )(tk )+
]
ck (dk )(tk )+

dk
dk

t (k, k + ];
, t (k + , k + ),

and





 s 
(t, s; a , b ) = exp
ln sin t m(t, s; a , b ) ds .

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 12 of 14

Similarly, for j = , i.e., t (k + , k + ), we have m(t, s; a , b ) = e , and






 s 
ln sin t m(t, s; a , b ) ds
(t, s; a , b ) = exp

sin t
.
e

Choose (t) = and (t) = sin t. By Theorem ., we know that Eq. () is oscillatory if



 (t)

(t) dt
(t) (t, s; aj , bj ) (t) r(t)(t) (t) +

(t)
aj
 bj
(t, s; aj , bj ) sin t dt > , j = , .
=

bj

aj

Example . Consider the following equation:

x (t) + x(t) +  |x(t )|s sgn x(t ) ds = e(t),

x(t + ) = ck x(t ),
k

t = tk ,

(tk+ ) = dk x (tk ),

()

where ck , dk > are constants, t , tk = k (k = , , . . .), r(t) = q(t) = p(t, s) =

, (t, s) = t , and (s) = s. For any T > , we choose k large enough such that
(k ) T and let a = (k ), a = b = k and b = k. Then we have p(t, s) for
t (a , b ) (a , b ). Assume that e(t) C[, ) is any function satisfying ()j e(t) on
[aj , bj ] (j = , ). For any (/, ], set
(s) =

()/()
s
.

It is easy to verify that () and () are valid. Let (t) = and H(t, s) = (t s) . We have
that h (t, s) = h (t, s) . For j = , we have

R(a b , t) =

t ((k ), k ];

(dk )(tk+)+ ,

m(t, s; a , b ) =

dk

[
ck

t (k , k ),
t ((k ), k ];

dk
(dk )(tk+)+ d
k
(dk )(tk+)+

, t (k , k ),

and

(t, s; a , b ) =

|e(t)|



[m(t, s; a , b )]s
exp
(s) ln
ds .
(s)

For t ((k ), k ), we obtain




P (k ), k
H(k , (k ))

 k




H t, (k ) (t) q(t) + (t, s; a , b )
=
(k)

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Page 13 of 14


 



(t)
dt
r(t)(t)
+ h t, (k )

(t)


 k


t (k )
+ (t, s; a , b ) dt,
=

(k)
and
ck

P (k , k )
dk H(k , k )




ck k
=
H(k , t) (t) q(t) + (t, s; a , b )
dk k
 

(t)

+ h (k , t) dt
r(t)(t)

(t)


 k
ck

+ (t, s; a , b ) dt.
(k t)
=
dk k

Similarly, for t (k , k), we have that m(t, s; a , b ) = e , and



[m(t, s; a , b )]s
ds
exp
(s) ln
(s)


 




|e(t)|
exp
(s) s + ln (s) ds .
=

(t, s; a , b ) =

|e(t)|

We choose = k , so we have

P (k , ) =
H(, k )

k 

t (k )




dt,
+ (t, s; a , b )

and

P (, k) =
H(k, )

(k t)
k

+ (t, s; a , b ) dt.

From Theorem . we know that Eq. () is oscillatory if




+ (t, s; a , b ) dt

(k)


 k

ck
+
+ (t, s; a , b ) dt > ,
(k t)
dk k

k 

t (k )

and


k 

t (k )





 k


+ (t, s; a , b ) dt +
+ (t, s; a , b ) dt > .
(k t)

Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Liu and Sun Advances in Dierence Equations 2012, 2012:175

http://www.advancesindifferenceequations.com/content/2012/1/175

Authors contributions
All authors carried out the proof. All authors conceived of the study and participated in its design and coordination. All
authors read and approved the nal manuscript.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61174217) and the Natural
Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant Nos. ZR2010AL002 and JQ201119).
Received: 16 July 2012 Accepted: 20 September 2012 Published: 5 October 2012
References
1. Ballinger, G, Liu, X: Permanence of population growth models with impulsive eects. Math. Comput. Model. 26, 59-72
(1997)
2. Lu, Z, Chi, X, Chen L: Impulsive control strategies in biological control of pesticide. Theor. Popul. Biol. 64, 39-47 (2003)
3. Sun, J, Qiao, F, Wu, Q: Impulsive control of a nancial model. Phys. Lett. A 335, 282-288 (2005)
4. Tang, S, Chen, L: Global attractivity in a food-limited population model with impulsive eect. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 292,
211-221 (2004)
5. Tang, S, Xiao, Y, Clancy, D: New modelling approach concerning integrated disease control and cost-eectivity.
Nonlinear Anal. 63, 439-471 (2005)
6. Zhang, Y, Xiu, Z, Chen, L: Dynamics complexity of a two-prey one-predator system with impulsive eect. Chaos
Solitons Fractals 26, 131-139 (2005)
7. Lakshmikantham, V, Bainov, DD, Simeonov, PS: Theory of Impulsive Dierential Equations. Series in Modern Applied
Mathematics, vol. 6. World Scientic, Singapore (1989)
8. Benchohra, M, Henderson, J, Ntouyas, S: Impulsive Dierential Equations and Inclusions. Contemporary Mathematics
and Its Applications, vol. 2. Hindawi Publishing Corporation, New York (2006)
9. Bainov, D, Covachev, V: Impulsive Dierential Equations with a Small Parameter. World Scientic, Singapore (1995)
10. Agarwa, RP, Karako, F: Survey on oscillation of impulsive delay dierential equations. Comput. Math. Appl. 60,
1648-1685 (2010)
11. zbekler, A, Zafer, A: Forced oscillation of super-half-linear impulsive dierential equations. Comput. Math. Appl. 54,
785-792 (2007)
12. zbekler, A, Zafer, A: Interval criteria for the forced oscillation of super-half-linear dierential equations under
impulse eects. Math. Comput. Model. 50, 59-65 (2009)
13. Luo, Z, Shen, J: Oscillation of second order linear dierential equations with impulses. Appl. Math. Lett. 20, 75-81
(2007)
14. Chen, YS, Feng, WZ: Oscillation of second order nonlinear ODE with impulses. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 210, 150-169 (1997)
15. Liu, XX, Xu, ZT: Oscillation of a forced super-linear second order dierential equation with impulses. Comput. Math.
Appl. 53, 1740-1749 (2007)
16. Liu, XX, Xu, ZT: Oscillation criteria for a forced mixed typed Emden-Fowler equation with impulses. Comput. Math.
Appl. 215, 283-291 (2009)
17. Muthulakshmi, V, Thandapani, E: Interval criteria for oscillation of second-order impulsive dierential equation with
mixed nonlinearities. Electron. J. Dier. Equ. 2011(40), 1-14 (2011)
18. zbekler, A, Zafer, A: Oscillation of solutions of second order mixed nonlinear dierential equations under impulsive
perturbations. Comput. Math. Appl. 61, 933-940 (2011)
19. Guo, Z, Zhou, X, Ge, W: Interval oscillation criteria for second-order forced impulsive dierential equations with mixed
nonlinearities. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 381, 187-201 (2011)
20. Zafer, A: Oscillation of second-order sublinear impulsive dierential equations. Abstr. Appl. Anal. 2011, Article ID
458275 (2011)
21. Sun, YG, Kong, QK: Interval criteria for forced oscillation with nonlinearities given by Riemann-Stieltjes integrals.
Comput. Math. Appl. 62, 243-252 (2011)
22. Sun, YG, Wong, JSW: Oscillation criteria for second order forced ordinary dierential equations with mixed
nonlinearities. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 334, 549-560 (2007)
23. Sun, YG, Meng, FW: Oscillation of second-order delay dierential equations with mixed nonlinearities. Comput. Math.
Appl. 207, 135-139 (2009)
24. Liu, Z, Sun, YG: Interval criteria for oscillation of a forced impulsive dierential equation with Riemann-Stieltjes
integral. Comput. Math. Appl. 63, 1577-1586 (2012)
25. Kong, Q: Interval criteria for oscillation of second order linear ordinary dierential equations. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 229,
258-270 (1999)
26. El-Sayed, MA: An oscillation criterion for a forced second order linear dierential equation. Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 118,
813-817 (1993)
27. Yang, X: Oscillation criteria for nonlinear dierential equations with damping. Comput. Math. Appl. 136, 549-557
(2003)
28. Hassan, TS, Kong, Q: Interval criteria for forced oscillation of dierential equations with p-Laplacian and nonlinearities
given by Riemann-Stieltjes integrals. J. Korean Math. Soc. 49, 1017-1030 (2012)
29. Erbe, L, Hassan, TS, Peterson, A: Oscillation criteria for nonlinear damped dynamic equations on time scales. Comput.
Math. Appl. 203, 343-357 (2008)

doi:10.1186/1687-1847-2012-175
Cite this article as: Liu and Sun: Oscillation of impulsive functional differential equations with oscillatory potentials
and Riemann-Stieltjes integrals. Advances in Dierence Equations 2012 2012:175.

Page 14 of 14