Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701

www.elsevier.com/locate/na

Existence and multiplicity of positive periodic

solutions to functional differential equations with
impulse effects夡
Xiaoyue Lia,∗ , Xiaoning Linb , Daqing Jianga , Xiaoying Zhangc
a School of Mathematics and Statistics, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, PR China
b School of Business, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, PR China
c Applied Science College, Changchun University, Changchun 130022, PR China

Received 8 November 2004; accepted 7 April 2005

Abstract
This paper deals with a new existence theory for single and multiple positive periodic solutions
to a kind of nonautonomous functional differential equations with impulse actions at fixed moments
by employing a fixed point theorem in cones. Easily verifiable sufficient criteria are established.
The paper extends some previous results and reports some new results about impulsive functional
differential equations.
䉷 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
MSC: 34K20

Keywords: Functional differential equation; Impulse; Existence; Positive periodic solution; Fixed point theorem

1. Introduction

Some evolution processes are distinguished by the circumstance that at certain instants
their evolution is subjected to a sudden change, for example, in population biology, the
diffusion of chemicals, the spread of heat, the radiation of electromagnetic waves, the

夡 Research supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10171010).

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 431 551 5009; fax: +86 431 509 9589.
E-mail address: lixy209@nenu.edu.cn (X. Li).

0362-546X/$ - see front matter 䉷 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.na.2005.04.005
684 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701

maintenance of a species through instantaneous stocking and harvesting, etc. Mathemati-

cally, this leads to an impulse dynamical system. Differential equations involving impulse
effects occurs in many applications: physics, population dynamics, ecology, biological sys-
tems, biotechnology, industrial robotic, pharmacokinetics, optimal control, etc. Therefore,
the study of this class of dynamical systems has gained prominence and it is a rapidly
growing field. See, for instance the monographs [4,15,20,28]. Some present-day trends
are discussed, for instance [7,27]. At present, some qualitative properties such as oscilla-
tion, asymptotic behavior, stability and existence of solutions are investigated extensively
by many authors [1–3,5,11,12,17–19,24–26,29–31,34–37]. However, only a little work
has been done for the periodicity of nonautonomous impulsive differential equations (see
[1,5,11,12,17,18,25,26,35,37]), especially the existence of multiple periodic solutions based
on fixed point theorem in cones.
In [25], the author consider the following nonlinear impulsive periodic boundary value
problem:


u̇(t) + F (t, u(t)) = 0, t  = tj , a.e. t ∈ [0, T ] − {t1 , t2 , . . . , tp },
u(tj+ ) = u(tj− ) + Ij (u(tj )), j = 1, 2, . . . , p, (1.1)
u(0) = u(T ),
which has been well studied in the literature. The author gave the Green function of (1.1)
and prove the existence of solutions when the nonlinearity and the impulsive functions are
either bounded or have sublinear growth (see [25] for details).
Very recently, the authors [33] investigated the existence of single positive periodic so-
lution for the following generalized nonautonomous functional differential equations:
ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + g(t, y(t −
(t))), (1.2)
where a ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)),
∈ C(R, R), g ∈ C(R × [0, ∞), [0, ∞)), and a,
, g are all
-periodic functions.  > 0 is a constant.
It is well known that the functional differential equation (1.2) includes many mathematical
ecological equations.
For example, the general functional differential equations [32]
ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + b(t)f (t, y(t −
(t))), (1.3)
the Hematopoiesis model [21,32]

ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + b(t)e−(t)y(t−
(t)) , (1.4)

more general the model of blood cell production [8,21,22,32]
1
ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + b(t) , n > 0, (1.5)
1 + y(t −
(t))n
y(t −
(t))
ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + b(t) , n > 0, (1.6)
1 + y(t −
(t))n
and the more general Nicholson’s blowflies model [9,10,13,21,23,32]

ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + b(t)y(t −
(t))e−(t)y(t−
(t)) . (1.7)

 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701 685

To the knowledge of the authors, there are very few works on the existence of single and
multiple positive periodic solutions for Eq. (1.2), even for (1.3)–(1.7), except [33] and [32].
The main results of the paper [33] are as follows.

Theorem 1.1 (Wan et al. [33]). Eq. (1.2) has at least one -periodic positive solution,
provided one of the following conditions holds:
g(t, u) g(t, u)
(i) lim inf min > 1 and lim sup max < 1;
u↓0 t∈[0,] a(t)u u↑∞ t∈[0,] a(t)u

g(t, u) g(t, u)
(ii) lim sup max < 1 and lim inf min > 1.
u↓0 t∈[0,] a(t)u u↑∞ t∈[0,] a(t)u

However, the study for the periodicity of the functional differential equation with impulse
effects is still in an initial stage of its development (see [7,11,17,26,35,37]), and is far from
systematic study. As far as authors know, there are few works on the existence of single
and multiple periodic solutions for the functional differential equation (1.2) with impulse
effects.
In this paper, we devote ourselves to exploring the periodicity for the following system:

ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + g(t, y(t −
(t))), t  = tj , j ∈ Z,
(1.8)
y(tj+ ) = y(tj− ) + Ij (y(tj )),

where y(tj+ ) and y(tj− ) represent the right and the left limit of y(tj ), respectively, in this
paper, it is assumed that y is left continuous at tj ; a(t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)),
(t) ∈ C(R, R), g ∈
C(R × [0, ∞), [0, ∞)), Ij ∈ C([0, ∞), [0, ∞)), and a(t),
(t), g(t, y) are all -periodic
functions.  > 0 is a constant; there exists a positive integer p such that tj +p =tj + , Ij +p =
Ij , j ∈ Z. Without loss of generality, we also assume that [0, ) ∩ {tj : j ∈ Z} =
{t1 , t2 , . . . , tp }.
The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we present main results for single and
multiple positive periodic solutions. In Section 3, we prove our main results by applying
a well-known fixed point theorem in cones (see Theorem 1.2). The key steps is to find the
Green’s function of (1.8) and a function  such that the appropriate operator  satisfies the
condition y  = y +  in the cited fixed point theorem (i = 1, 2). It seems to be difficult
to utilize the norm-type expansion and compression theorem to prove our main results (see
[16] for details). In Section 4, we give some examples to explain our results. In addition,
we apply the general criteria established in Section 2 to some concrete famous ecological
models with impulsive effects, of which the version without impulse have been well studied
in the literature, and derive sufficient conditions that guarantee the existence of positive
periodic solutions to such systems.
To conclude this section, we state a fixed point theorem in cones which will be needed
in this paper.

Theorem 1.2 (Krasnoselskii [14] and Deimling [6]). Let X be a Banach space and K is a
¯ 1 ⊂ 2 . Let
cone in X. Assume 1 , 2 are open subsets of X with 0 ∈ 1 , 
¯ 2 \ 1 ) → K
 : K ∩ (
686 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701

be a continuous and completely continuous operator such that

(i) x
x for x ∈ K ∩ j1 ,
(ii) there exists  ∈ K\{0} such that x  = x +  for x ∈ K ∩ j2 and  > 0.
¯ 2 \1 ).
Then  has a fixed point in K ∩ (

Remark 1.1. In Theorem 1.2, if (i) and (ii) are replaced by

(i)∗ x
x for x ∈ K ∩ j2 ,

and
(ii)∗ there exists  ∈ K\{0} such that x  = x +  for x ∈ K ∩ j1 and  > 0,
then  has a fixed point in K ∩ (¯ 2 \1 ).

2. Preliminary and main results

We now consider “the linear problem”


ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + (t), t  = tj , j ∈ Z,
(2.1)
y(tj+ ) = y(tj− ) + Ij (y(tj )),
where (t) ∈ C(R, [0, ∞)) is an -periodic function and the rest parameters satisfy the
hypothesis about (1.8).
Note that (2.1) is not really a linear problem since the impulse functions are not necessarily
linear. However, if Ij are linear (j = 1, 2, . . . , p), then (2.1) is a linear impulsive problem.
The following Lemma is fundamental in our discussion. Since the method is similar as
that in the literature [25], we omit the proof.

Lemma 2.1. y(t) is an -periodic solution of Eq. (2.1) is equivalent to y(t) is an -periodic
solution of the following:
 t+ 
y(t) = G(t, s)(s) ds + G(t, tj )Ij (y(tj )), (2.2)
t j :tj ∈[t,t+)

where
s
t a( ) d
e
G(t, s) =  . (2.3)
e 0 a( ) d −1
From Lemma 2.1, we can obtain following Lemma 2.2 easily.

Lemma 2.2. y(t) is an -periodic solution of Eq. (1.8) is equivalent to y(t) is an -periodic
solution of the following:
 t+ 
y(t) = G(t, s)g(s, y(s −
(s))) ds + G(t, tj )Ij (y(tj )), (2.4)
t j :tj ∈[t,t+)

where G(t, s) is defined by (2.3) in Lemma 2.1.

 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701 687

Let X be a real Banach space, and K a closed, nonempty subset of X. K is a cone

provided

(i) u + v ∈ K for all u, v ∈ K and all ,  0.

(ii) u, −u ∈ K imply u = 0.

Define

P C(R) = {y : R → R | y|(tj ,tj +1 ) ∈ C(tj , tj +1 ), ∃y(tj− ) = y(tj ), y(tj+ ), j ∈ Z}.

Consider the Banach space

X = {y(t) : y(t) ∈ P C(R), y(t + ) = y(t)}

with norm

y = sup {|y(t)| : y ∈ X}.

t∈[0,]

Define an operator on X as following:

 t+ 
(y)(t) = G(t, s)g(s, y(s −
(s))) ds + G(t, tj )Ij (y(tj )) (2.5)
t j :tj ∈[t,t+)

for y ∈ X. Clearly,  is a completely continuous operator on X.

Let

K = {y ∈ X : y(t)  0 and y(t) y},

where

0 <  = A/B < 1 (2.6)

and
1
A := min{G(t, s) : 0
t
s
} =  > 0,
e 0 a( ) d − 1
(2.7)
e 0 a( ) d
B := max{G(t, s) : 0
t
s
} =   > 0.
e 0 a( ) d − 1
It is not difficult to verify that K is a cone in X.

Lemma 2.3. (K) ⊂ K.

Proof. For any y ∈ K, we have

  p

y
B g(s, y(s −
(s))) ds + B Ij (y(tj ))
0 j =1
688 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701

and
  p

(y)(t)  A g(s, y(s −
(s))) ds + A Ij (y(tj )).
0 j =1

So we have
A
(y)(t)  y = y,
B
i.e. y ∈ K. This completes the proof of Lemma 2.3. 

For convenience and simplicity in the following discussion, we always use the notations:
p

g(t, u) Ij (u)
g0 = lim inf min , I0 = lim inf ,
u↓0 t∈[0,] a(t)u u↓0 u
j =1
p

g(t, u) Ij (u)
g ∞ = lim sup max , I ∞ = lim sup ,
u↑∞ t∈[0,] a(t)u u↑∞ u
j =1
p
 Ij (u)
g(t, u)
g 0 = lim sup max , I 0 = lim sup ,
u↓0 t∈[0,] a(t)u u↓0 u
j =1
p
g(t, u) Ij (u)
g∞ = lim inf min , I∞ = lim inf
u↑∞ t∈[0,] a(t)u u↑∞ u
j =1

and for q > 0, we define

p
 p

(q)
I(q) = min Ij (u), I = max Ij (u).
q
u
q q
u
q
j =1 j =1

In this paper, some of the following hypotheses are satisfied:

(H1 ) g0 + AI 0 > 1 and g∞ + AI ∞ > 1;

(H2 ) g 0 + BI 0 < 1 and g ∞ + BI ∞ < 1;
(H3 ) there is a q > 0 such that q
u
q implies

g(t, u)
+ BI (q) < q, t ∈ R;
a(t)

(H4 ) there is a q > 0 such that q
u
q implies

g(t, u)
+ AI (q) > u, t ∈ R.
a(t)
 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701 689

Remark 2.1. If there is a q > 0 such that q
u
q implies

g(t, u)
+ BI (q) < u, t ∈ R,
a(t)
then (H3 ) holds.

Remark 2.2. If there is a q > 0 such that q
u
q implies

g(t, u)
+ AI (q) > q, t ∈ R,
a(t)
then (H4 ) holds.

The main result of the present paper is as follows.

Theorem 2.1. Assume that (H1 ) and (H3 ) are satisfied, then Eq. (1.8) has at least two
positive solutions y1 and y2 such that
0 < y1  < q < y2 .

Corollary 2.1. Using the following (H1∗ ) instead of (H1 ), the conclusion of Theorem 2 is
true.
(H1∗ ) g0 = ∞ or I0 = ∞ and g∞ = ∞ or I∞ = ∞.

Theorem 2.2. Assume that (H2 ) and (H4 ) are satisfied, then Eq. (1.8) has at least two
positive solutions y1 and y2 such that
0 < y1  < q < y2 .

Corollary 2.2. Using the following (H2∗ ) instead of (H2 ), the conclusion of Theorem 2 is
true.
(H2∗ ) g 0 = 0, I 0 = 0, g ∞ = 0, I ∞ = 0.

Theorem 2.3. Eq. (1.8) has at least one -periodic positive solution, provided one of the
following conditions holds:
(i) g0 + AI 0 > 1 and g ∞ + BI ∞ < 1;
(ii) g 0 + BI 0 < 1 and g∞ + AI ∞ > 1.

Corollary 2.3. Eq. (1.8) has at least one -periodic positive solution, provided one of the
following conditions holds:
(i) g0 = ∞ or I0 = ∞ and g ∞ = 0, I ∞ = 0 (sublinear),
(ii) g = 0, I = 0
0 0
and g∞ = ∞ or I∞ = ∞ (superlinear).

Remark 2.3. Theorem 2.3 extends Theorems 1.1 in [11].

690 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701

3. Proof of main results

First of all, we point out that to find an -periodic solution of Eq. (1.8) is equivalent to
find a fixed point of the operator . Utilizing Theorem 1.2, we prove the main conclusion.

Proof of Theorem 2.1. Suppose that (H1 ) and (H3 ) hold. By using the first inequality of
(H1 ) i.e.

g0 + AI 0 > 1,

one can find that for

(g0 + AI 0 ) − 1
0< < ,
A+1

there exist a constant 0 < r < q such that

p

g(t, u)  (g0 − )a(t)u, A Ij (u)  A(I0 − )u whenever 0
u
r.
j =1

Thus, if y ∈ K with y = r, then r
y(t)
r. Let  ≡ 1 for t ∈ R and we prove that

y  = y +  for y ∈ K ∩ j1 and  0, (3.1)

where 1 = {u ∈ X : u < r}.

If not, there exists y0 ∈ K ∩ j1 and 0  0 such that

y0 = y0 + 0 .

Let = mint∈[0,] y0 (t). Then for t ∈ R we have

y0 (t) = (y0 )(t) + 0

 t+ 
= G(t, s)g(s, y0 (s −
(s))) ds + G(t, tj )Ij (y0 (tj )) + 0
t j :tj ∈[t,t+)
 t+ p
 (g0 − )G(t, s)a(s)y0 (s −
(s)) ds + A Ij (y0 (tj )) + 0
t j =1
 t+
 (g0 − ) G(t, s)a(s) ds + A(I0 − ) + 0
t
= [(g0 + AI 0 ) − (A + 1) ] + 0 > + 0

and this implies > + 0 , a contradiction.

 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701 691

On the other hand, since (H3 ) holds, we know that there is a q > 0 such that q
u
q
implies

g(t, u) < (q − BI (q) )a(t), t ∈ R.

Let 2 = {u ∈ X : u < q}, we have

q = u
u(t)
u = q for u ∈ K ∩ j2 .

Then for y ∈ K with y = q, we have

 t+ 
(y)(t) = G(t, s)g(s, y(s −
(s))) ds + G(t, tj )Ij (y(tj ))
t j :tj ∈[t,t+)
 t+  p
< (q − BI (q) )G(t, s)a(s) ds + B Ij (y(tj ))
t j =1
 t+
(q)

(q − BI ) G(t, s)a(s) ds + BI (q) = q = y.
t

This implies that

y
y for y ∈ K ∩ j2 . (3.2)

In view of (3.1) and (3.2), by Theorem 1.2, it follows that  has a fixed point y1 ∈
K ∩ (¯ 2 \1 ). Furthermore, r < y1  < q and y1 (t) r > 0, which means that y1 (t) is an
-periodic positive solution of (1.8).
Next, by using the second inequality of (H1 ), i.e.

g∞ + AI ∞ > 1,

one can find that for

(g∞ + AI ∞ ) − 1
0< < ,
A+1
there exist a constant r1 > q such that
p

g(t, u)  (g∞ − )a(t)u, A Ij (u)  A(I∞ − )u for u  r1 .
j =1

Let R = r1 /, so we have,

u(t) u = R = r1 for u ∈ K ∩ j3 ,

where 3 = {u ∈ X : u < R}.

Let  ≡ 1 for t ∈ R and we prove that

y  = y +  for y ∈ K ∩ j3 and  0. (3.3)

692 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701

If not, there exists y0 ∈ K ∩ j3 and 0  0 such that

y0 = y0 + 0 .

Let = mint∈[0,] y0 (t). Then for t ∈ R we have

y0 (t) = (y0 )(t) + 0

 t+ 
= G(t, s)g(s, y0 (s −
(s))) ds + G(t, tj )Ij (y0 (tj )) + 0
t j :tj ∈[t,t+)
 t+ p

 (g∞ − )G(t, s)a(s)y0 (s −
(s)) ds + A Ij (y0 (tj )) + 0
t j =1
 t+
 (g∞ − ) G(t, s)a(s) ds + A(I∞ − ) + 0
t
= [(g∞ + AI ∞ ) − (A + 1) ] + 0 > + 0

and this implies > + 0 , a contradiction.

Therefore, in view of (3.2) and (3.3), by Theorem 1.2, it follows that  has a fixed point
y2 ∈ K ∩ (¯ 3 \2 ). Furthermore, q < y2  < R and y2 (t) q > 0, which means that y2 (t)
is an -periodic positive solution of (1.8).
This complete the proof of Theorem 2.1. 

Remark 3.1. Note to reduce the existence of y1 in Theorem 2.1, we need only assume
(H3 ) and g0 + AI 0 > 1. A similar remark applies for y2 .

Proof of Theorem 2.2. Suppose that (H2 ) and (H4 ) hold. By using the first inequality of
(H2 ) i.e.

g 0 + BI 0 < 1,

one can find that for

1 − (g 0 + BI 0 )
0< < ,
B +1

there exist a constant 0 < r < q such that

p

g(t, u)
(g + )a(t)u,
0
B Ij (u)
B(I 0 + )u
j =1

whenever 0
u
r. Thus, if y ∈ K with y = r, then r
y(t)
r.

 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701 693

Then for y ∈ K with y = r, we have

 t+ 
(y)(t) = G(t, s)g(s, y(s −
(s))) ds + G(t, tj )Ij (y(tj ))
t j :tj ∈[t,t+)
 t+  p

(g 0 + )G(t, s)a(s)y(s −
(s)) ds + B Ij (y(tj ))
t j =1
 t+

(g + ) 0
G(t, s)a(s) dsy + B(I 0 + )y
t
= [(g 0 + BI ) + (B + 1) ]y < y.
0

This implies that

y
y (3.4)

for y ∈ K ∩ j1 , where 1 = {u ∈ X : u < r}.

On the other hand, since (H4 ) holds, we know that there is a q > 0 such that q
u
q
implies

g(t, u) > (u − AI (q) )a(t), t ∈ R.

Thus, if y ∈ K with y = q, then q
y(t)
q. Let  ≡ 1 for t ∈ R and we prove that

y  = y +  for y ∈ K ∩ j2 and  0, (3.5)

where 2 = {u ∈ X : u < q}.

If not, there exists y0 ∈ K ∩ j2 and 0  0 such that

y0 = y0 + 0 .

Let = mint∈[0,] y0 (t). Then for t ∈ R we have

y0 (t) = (y0 )(t) + 0

 t+ 
= G(t, s)g(s, y0 (s −
(s))) ds + G(t, tj )Ij (y0 (tj )) + 0
t j :tj ∈[t,t+)
 t+ p

> (y0 (s −
(s)) − AI (q) )G(t, s)a(s) ds + A Ij (y0 (tj )) + 0
t j =1
 t+
 ( − AI (q) ) G(t, s)a(s) ds + AI (q) + 0 = + 0 ,
t

and this implies > + 0 , a contradiction.

In view of (3.4) and (3.5), by Theorem 1.2, it follows that  has a fixed point y1 ∈
K ∩ (¯ 2 \1 ). Furthermore, r < y1  < q and y1 (t) r > 0, which means that y1 (t) is an
-periodic positive solution of (1.8).
694 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701

Next, by using the second inequality of (H2 ), i.e.

g ∞ + BI ∞ < 1,

one can find that for

1 − (g ∞ + BI ∞ )
0< < ,
B +1
there exist a constant r1 > q such that
p

g(t, u)
(g ∞ + )a(t)u, B Ij (u)
B(I ∞ + )u for u  r1 , j = 1, 2, . . ., p.
j =1

Let R = r1 /, so we have,

u(t) u = R = r1 for u ∈ K ∩ j3 ,

where 3 = {u ∈ X : u < R}.

Then for y ∈ K with y = R, we have
 t+ 
(y)(t) = G(t, s)g(s, y(s −
(s))) ds + G(t, tj )Ij (y(tj ))
t j :tj ∈[t,t+)
 t+ p


(g ∞ + )G(t, s)a(s)y(s −
(s)) ds + B Ij (y(tj ))
t j =1
 t+

(g ∞ + ) G(t, s)a(s) dsy + B(I ∞ + )y
t
∞
= [(g ∞ + BI ) + (B + 1) ]y < y.

This implies that

y
y (3.6)

for y ∈ K ∩ j3 .
Therefore, in view of (3.5) and (3.6), by Theorem 1.2, it follows that  has a fixed point
y2 ∈ K ∩ (¯ 3 \2 ). Furthermore, q < y2  < R and y2 (t) q > 0, which means that y2 (t)
is an -periodic positive solution of (1.8).
This complete the proof Theorem 2.2. 

Remark 3.2. Note to reduce the existence of y1 in Theorem 2.1, we need only assume
(H4 ) and g 0 + BI 0 < 1. A similar remark applies for y2 .

Proof of Theorem 2.3. The proof follows the ideas in the proof of Theorems 2.1 and
2.2. 
 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701 695

Remark 2.4. In the same arguments, we can know that all results are valid for the other
system (3.7)

ẏ(t) = a(t)y(t) − g(t, y(t −
(t))), t  = tj , j ∈ Z,
(3.7)
y(tj+ ) = y(tj− ) − Ij (y(tj )),
where the parameters satisfy the same hypothesis as that of (1.8).

4. Examples

At the begin of this section, we provide two examples which satisfy the conditions of
Theorems 2.1 and 2.2, respectively.
For convenience and simplicity in the following discussion, we use the notations:

a l = min{a1 , a2 , . . . , an , . . .}, a m = max{a1 , a2 , . . . , an , . . .}.

Consider the equation


ẏ(t) = −a(t)[y(t) − y (t −
(t)) − y  (t −
(t))], t  = tj , j ∈ Z,
(4.1)
y(tj+ ) = y(tj− ) + bj e−cj y(tj ) ,

where a(t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)),
(t) ∈ C(R, R), > 0, 0 < < 1 < , bj  0, cj > 0, and
a(t) = a(t + ),
(t) =
(t + ),  > 0 is a constant; there exists a positive integer p such
that tj +p = tj + , bj +p = bj , cj +p = cj , j ∈ Z.

Corollary 4.1. Eq. (4.1) has at least two -periodic positive solutions provided
x
1 < sup ,
+ x  ) + Bpbm e−c x
l
x∈(0,∞) (x

where  is as in (2.6) and B is as in (2.7).

Proof. Set

g(t, u) = a(t)(u + u ), Ij (u) = bj e−cj u .

Then

g0 = ∞ and g∞ = ∞,

so (H1∗ ) holds. Set

x
F (x) := , x > 0.
(x + x  ) + Bpbm e−c x
l

Then F (0+) = 0, F (∞) = 0, so there exists a q > 0 such that

F (q) = sup F (x).

x∈(0,∞)
696 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701

Then for q
u
q, we have

 p
g(t, u)
+ BI (q) = (u + u ) + B max bj e−cj u
a(t) q
u
q
j =1
 m l

(q + q ) + Bpb max e−c u
q
u
q
 m −cl q

(q + q ) + Bpb e
l
< [ (q + q  ) + Bpbm e−c q ]F (q) = q, t ∈ R,

so (H3 ) holds. The result follows from Theorem 2.1. 

Corollary 4.2. If bj ≡ 0, i.e. Ij ≡ 0 (j ∈ Z) holds, Eq. (4.1) has at least two -periodic
positive solutions provided
x
< sup 
.
x∈(0,∞) x + x

Proof. The proof follows the ideas in the proof of Corollary 4.1. 

Consider the equation


ẏ(t) = y(t)[a(t) − b(t)y(t)e−y(t) ], t  = tj , j ∈ Z,
(4.2)
y(tj+ ) = y(tj− ) ± cj y 3 (tj )e−dj y(tj ) ,
where a(t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)), b(t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)), cj  0, dj > 0, and a(t) = a(t + ),
b(t) = b(t + ),  > 0 is a constant; there exists a positive integer p such that tj +p = tj +
, cj +p = cj , dj +p = dj j ∈ Z.

Corollary 4.3. Eq. (4.2) has at least two -periodic positive solutions provided
 
a(t) u u2
max < sup min ,
u ed m u
,
t∈[0,] b(t) x∈(0,∞) u∈[x,x] e

where  is as in (2.6).

Proof. Set

g(t, u) = b(t)u2 e−u , Ij (u) = cj u3 e−dj u .

Then

g 0 = 0, I 0 = 0, g ∞ = 0, I ∞ = 0,

so (H2∗ ) holds. Set

 
u u2
F (x) := min , m , x > 0.
u∈[x,x] eu ed u
 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701 697

Then F (0+) = 0, F (∞) = 0, so there exists a q > 0 such that

F (q) = sup F (x).

x∈(0,∞)

Then for q
u
q, we have

 p
g(t, u) b(t) 2 −u
+ AI (q) = u e + A min cj u3 e−dj u
a(t) a(t) q
u
q
j =1
b(t) 2 −u m
 u e + Apcl q min u2 e−d u
a(t) q
u
q
 
b(t) −u m
 ue + Apcl  min u2 e−d u u
a(t) q
u
q
 
b(t) m
 + Apcl  min {ue−u , u2 e−d u }u
a(t)  q
u
q
 
b(t) l
= + Apc  F (q)u
a(t)
 
b(t) u u2
 sup min , m u
a(t) x∈(0,∞) u∈[x,x] eu ed u
b(t) a(t)
> max u  u, t ∈ R,
a(t) t∈[0,] b(t)

so (H4 ) holds. The result follows from Theorem 2.2. 

Corollary 4.4. If cj ≡ 0, i.e. Ij ≡ 0 holds, Eq. (4.2) has at least two -periodic positive
solutions provided

a(t) u
max < sup min .
t∈[0,T ] b(t) x∈(0,∞) u∈[x,x] eu

Proof. The proof follows the ideas in the proof of Corollary 4.3. 

Then, we apply the main result obtained in previous section to study some examples
which have some biological implications. If we consider the effects of harvesting, hunting,
inputting and so on, the impulsive biological models seem more reasonable than the general
biological model without impulsive effects. If we consider the environmental or biological
factors, the assumption of the periodic oscillation of the parameters and impulse functions
seems realistic and reasonable in view of any seasonal phenomena which they might be
subjected to, e.g., mating habits, availability of food, weather conditions, etc. A very basic
and important ecological problem associated with the study of population is the existence of
positive periodic solution which plays the role played by the equilibrium of the autonomous
models and means the specie is in a equilibrium state.
698 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701

In the following discussion, one of the following assumption is satisfied:

(H5 ) I ∞ = 0;
(H6 ) I 0 = 0.

Applying Corollary 2.3 and Theorem 2.3, we can obtain the following Corollaries.

Remark 4.1. There are many functions to satisfy the assumption (H5 ) or (H6 ), for example,
Ij (u) = sin(aj u) and Ij (u) = bj u5 satisfy (H5 ) and (H6 ), respectively, where bj > 0 for
j ∈ Z.

Consider the impulsive Hematopoiesis model


ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + b(t)e−(t)y(t−
(t)) , t  = tj , j ∈ Z,
(4.3)
y(tj+ ) = y(tj− ) + Ij (y(tj )),
where a(t), b(t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)), (t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)),
(t) ∈ C(R, R), Ij ∈ C([0, ∞),
[0, ∞)), j ∈ Z, a(t), b(t), (t) and
(t) are all -periodic functions,  > 0 is a constant;
there exists a positive integer p such that tj +p = tj + , Ij +p = Ij , j ∈ Z.

Corollary 4.5. Assume that (H5 ) holds, then Eq. (4.3) has at least one -periodic positive
solutions.

Consider the impulsive model of blood cell production


ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + b(t) 1+y(t−
1

(t))n , n > 0, t  = tj , j ∈ Z, (4.4)
y(tj+ ) = y(tj− ) + Ij (y(tj )),
where a(t), b(t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)),
(t) ∈ C(R, R), Ij ∈ C([0, ∞), [0, ∞)), j ∈ Z, and
a(t), b(t),
(t) are all -periodic functions,  > 0 is a constant; there exists a positive
integer p such that tj +p = tj + , Ij +p = Ij , j ∈ Z.

Corollary 4.6. Assume that (H5 ) holds, then Eq. (4.4) has at least one -periodic positive
solution.

Consider the impulsive model of blood cell production

 y(t−
(t))
ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + b(t) 1+y(t−
(t))n , n > 0, t  = tj , j ∈ Z, (4.5)
y(tj+ ) = y(tj− ) + Ij (y(tj )),
where a(t), b(t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)),
(t) ∈ C(R, R), Ij ∈ C([0, ∞), [0, ∞)), j ∈ Z, and
a(t), b(t),
(t) are all -periodic functions,  > 0 is a constant; there exists a positive
integer p such that tj +p = tj + , Ij +p = Ij , j ∈ Z.

Corollary 4.7. Assume that (H5 ) and

(H7 ) b(t) > a(t) for t ∈ [0, ].
Then Eq. (4.5) has at least one -periodic positive solution.
 X. Li et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 62 (2005) 683 – 701 699

Consider the impulsive Nicholson’s blowflies model


ẏ(t) = −a(t)y(t) + b(t)y(t −
(t))e−(t)y(t−
(t)) , t  = tj , j ∈ Z,
(4.6)
y(tj+ ) = y(tj− ) + Ij (y(tj )),
where a(t), b(t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)), (t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)),
(t) ∈ C(R, R), Ij ∈ C([0, ∞),
[0, ∞)), j ∈ Z, a(t), b(t), (t) and
(t) are all -periodic functions,  > 0 is a constant;
there exists a positive integer p such that tj +p = tj + , Ij +p = Ij , j ∈ Z.

Corollary 4.8. Assume that (H5 ) and (H7 ) hold, then Eq. (4.6) has at least one -periodic
positive solution.

Corollaries 4.5 and 4.6 can be checked easily. For Corollaries 4.7 and 4.8, since

g0 = min b(t)/a(t) > 1 and g ∞ = 0 < 1,

t∈[0,]

then the result follows from Theorem 2.3.

Consider the impulsive Logistic system

 
y(t)
ẏ(t) = a(t)y(t) 1 − , t  = tj , j ∈ Z,
K(t) (4.7)
y(tj+ ) = y(tj− ) − Ij (y(tj )),
where a(t), K(t) ∈ C(R, (0, ∞)), Ij ∈ C([0, ∞), [0, ∞)), j ∈ Z, and a(t), K(t) are
all -periodic functions,  > 0 is a constant; there exists a positive integer p such that
tj +p = tj + , Ij +p = Ij , j ∈ Z.

Corollary 4.9. Assume that (H6 ) holds, then Eq. (4.7) has at least one -periodic positive
solution.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the reviewers for their comments and suggestions.

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