Lyapunov sequences for exponential dichotomies

For a linear nonautonomous dynamics with discrete time, we study the relation between nonuniform exponential dichotomies and strict Lyapunov sequences. Given such a sequence, we obtain the stable and unstable subspaces from the intersection of the images and preimages of the cones defined by each element of the sequence. The main difficulty is to extract some information about the angles between the stable and unstable subspaces (or some appropriate notion in the case of Banach spaces) from the Lyapunov sequence. In particular, for a large class of nonuniform exponential dichotomies we give a complete characterization in terms of strict quadratic Lyapunov sequences, that is, strict Lyapunov sequences defined by quadratic forms. We also construct explicitly families of strict Lyapunov sequences for each nonuniform exponential dichotomy, in terms of Lyapunov norms.     

Nonuniform exponential contractions and Lyapunov sequences

For a nonautonomous dynamics with discrete time obtained from the product of linear operators, we show that a nonuniform exponential contraction can be completely characterized in terms of what we call strict Lyapunov sequences. We note that nonuniform exponential contractions include as a very particular case the uniform exponential contractions that correspond to have a uniform asymptotic stability of the dynamics. We also obtain “inverse theorems” that give explicitly strict Lyapunov sequences for each nonuniform exponential contraction. Essentially, the Lyapunov sequences are obtained in terms of what are usually called Lyapunov norms, that is, norms with respect to which the behavior of a nonuniform exponential contraction becomes uniform. We also show how the characterization of nonuniform exponential contractions in terms of quadratic Lyapunov sequences can be used to establish in a very simple manner the persistence of the asymptotic stability of a nonuniform exponential contraction under sufficiently small linear or nonlinear perturbations. Moreover, we describe an appropriate version of our results in the context of ergodic theory showing that the existence of an eventually strict Lyapunov function implies that all Lyapunov exponents are negative almost everywhere.     

Lyapunov functions for trichotomies with growth rates

We consider linear equations x^′=A(t)x that may exhibit stable, unstable and central behaviors in different directions, with respect to arbitrary asymptotic rates ecρ(t) determined by a function ρ(t). For example, the usual exponential behavior with ρ(t)=t is included as a very special case, and when ρ(t)=logt we obtain a polynomial behavior. We emphasize that we also consider the general case of nonuniform exponential behavior, which corresponds to the existence of what we call a ρ-nonuniform exponential trichotomy. This is known to occur in a large class of nonautonomous linear equations. Our main objective is to give a complete characterization in terms of strict Lyapunov functions of the linear equations admitting a ρ-nonuniform exponential trichotomy. This includes criteria for the existence of a ρ-nonuniform exponential trichotomy, as well as inverse theorems providing explicit strict Lyapunov functions for each given exponential trichotomy. In the particular case of quadratic Lyapunov functions we show that the existence of strict Lyapunov sequences can be deduced from more algebraic relations between the quadratic forms defining the Lyapunov functions. As an application of the characterization of nonuniform exponential trichotomies in terms of strict Lyapunov functions, we establish the robustness of ρ-nonuniform exponential trichotomies under sufficiently small linear perturbations. We emphasize that in comparison with former works, our proof of the robustness is much simpler even when ρ(t)=t.     

Smooth robustness of parameterized perturbations of exponential dichotomies

We establish the robustness of nonuniform exponential dichotomies in Banach spaces, under sufficiently small C¹-parameterized perturbations. Moreover, we show that the stable and unstable subspaces of the exponential dichotomies obtained from the perturbation are also of class C¹ on the parameter, thus yielding an optimal smoothness.     

Stable manifolds for nonautonomous equations without exponential dichotomy

We consider nonautonomous ordinary differential equations v^′=A(t)v in Banach spaces and, under fairly general assumptions, we show that for any sufficiently small perturbation f there exists a stable invariant manifold for the perturbed equation v^′=A(t)v+f(t,v), which corresponds to the set of negative Lyapunov exponents of the original linear equation. The main assumption is the existence of a nonuniform exponential dichotomy with a small nonuniformity, i.e., a small deviation from the classical notion of (uniform) exponential dichotomy. In fact, we showed that essentially any linear equation v^′=A(t)v admits a nonuniform exponential dichotomy and thus, the above assumption only concerns the smallness of the nonuniformity of the dichotomy. This smallness is a rather common phenomenon at least from the point of view of ergodic theory: almost all linear variational equations obtained from a measure-preserving flow admit a nonuniform exponential dichotomy with arbitrarily small nonuniformity. We emphasize that we do not need to assume the existence of a uniform exponential dichotomy and that we never require the nonuniformity to be arbitrarily small, only sufficiently small. Our approach is related to the notion of Lyapunov regularity, which goes back to Lyapunov himself although it is apparently somewhat forgotten today in the theory of differential equations.     

Admissibility for nonuniform exponential contractions

We study the relation between the notions of nonuniform exponential stability and admissibility. In particular, using appropriate adapted norms (which can be seen as Lyapunov norms), we show that if any of their associated Lp spaces, with p∈(1,∞], is admissible for a given evolution process, then this process is a nonuniform exponential contraction. We also provide a collection of admissible Banach spaces for any given nonuniform exponential contraction.     

Quadratic Lyapunov functions and nonuniform exponential dichotomies

For nonautonomous linear equations x^′=A(t)x, we show how to characterize completely nonuniform exponential dichotomies using quadratic Lyapunov functions. The characterization can be expressed in terms of inequalities between matrices. In particular, we obtain converse theorems, by constructing explicitly quadratic Lyapunov functions for each nonuniform exponential dichotomy. We note that the nonuniform exponential dichotomies include as a very special case (uniform) exponential dichotomies. In particular, we recover in a very simple manner a complete characterization of uniform exponential dichotomies in terms of quadratic Lyapunov functions. We emphasize that our approach is new even in the uniform case.Furthermore, we show that the instability of a nonuniform exponential dichotomy persists under sufficiently small perturbations. The proof uses quadratic Lyapunov functions, and in particular avoids the use of invariant unstable manifolds which, to the best of our knowledge, are not known to exist in this general setting.     

On uniformity of exponential dichotomies for delay equations

It is shown that there cannot exist a uniform exponential dichotomy for any linear delay equation with a positive finite delay.     

Optimal regularity of robustness for parameterized perturbations

For exponential dichotomies defined by nonautonomous linear equations, we show that sufficiently small C¹-parameterized perturbations originate a family of exponential dichotomies of class C¹ in the parameter. We consider the general case of nonuniform exponential dichotomies, and also the general case of arbitrary growth rates of the form eλρ(t) where ρ is an arbitrary function. This includes the usual exponential behavior as a very special case when ρ(t)=t.     

Stability in delay difference equations with nonuniform exponential behavior

We study the stability under perturbations for delay difference equations in Banach spaces. Namely, we establish the (nonuniform) stability of linear nonuniform exponential contractions under sufficiently small perturbations. We also obtain a stable manifold theorem for perturbations of linear delay difference equations admitting a nonuniform exponential dichotomy, and show that the stable manifolds are Lipschitz in the perturbation.     

Nonlinear perturbations of nonuniform exponential dichotomy on measure chains

This paper focuses on nonlinear perturbations of flows in Banach spaces, corresponding to a nonautonomous dynamical system on measure chains admitting a nonuniform exponential dichotomy. We first define the nonuniform exponential dichotomy of linear nonuniformly hyperbolic systems on measure chains, then establish a new version of the Grobman-Hartman theorem for nonuniformly hyperbolic dynamics on measure chains with the help of nonuniform exponential dichotomies. Moreover, we also construct stable invariant manifolds for sufficiently small nonlinear perturbations of a nonuniform exponential dichotomy. In particular, it is shown that the stable invariant manifolds are Lipschitz in the initial values provided that the nonlinear perturbation is a sufficiently small Lipschitz perturbation.     

Nonuniform behavior and robustness

We establish the robustness of linear cocycles in Banach spaces admitting a nonuniform exponential dichotomy. We first obtain robustness results for positive and negative time, by establishing exponential behavior along certain subspaces, and showing that the associated sequences of projections have bounded exponential growth. We then establish a robustness result in Z by constructing explicitly appropriate projections on the stable and unstable subspaces. We emphasize that in general these projections may be different from those obtained separately from the robustness for positive and negative time. We also consider the case of strong nonuniform exponential dichotomies.     

Stable manifolds for delay equations and parameter dependence

We establish the existence of Lipschitz stable invariant manifolds for semiflows generated by a delay equation x^′=L(t)_xt+f(t,_xt,λ)$x^{\prime }=L\left(t\right)x_t+f(t,x_t,\lambda )$, assuming that the linear equation x^′=L(t)_xt$x^{\prime }=L\left(t\right)x_t$ admits a nonuniform exponential dichotomy and that f$f$ is a sufficiently small Lipschitz perturbation. We also show that the stable invariant manifolds are Lipschitz in the parameter λ$\lambda$.     

Robustness via Lyapunov functions

For nonautonomous linear equations x^′=A(t)x, we give a complete characterization of nonuniform exponential dichotomies in terms of strict quadratic Lyapunov functions. Nonuniform exponential dichotomies include as a very special case uniform exponential dichotomies. In particular, we construct explicitly strict Lyapunov functions for each exponential dichotomy. As a nontrivial application, we establish in a simple and direct manner the robustness of nonuniform exponential dichotomies under sufficiently small linear perturbations. This represents a considerable simplification of former work.     

Polynomial contractions and Lyapunov regularity

The purpose of this note is twofold: to introduce the notion of polynomial contraction for a linear nonautonomous dynamics with discrete time, and to show that it persists under sufficiently small linear and nonlinear perturbations. The notion of polynomial contraction mimics the notion of exponential contraction, but with the exponential decay replaced by a polynomial decay. We show that this behavior is exhibited by a large class of dynamics, by giving necessary conditions in terms of “polynomial” Lyapunov exponents. Finally, we establish the persistence of the asymptotic stability of a polynomial contraction under sufficiently small linear and nonlinear perturbations. We also consider the case of nonuniform polynomial contractions, for which the Lyapunov stability is not uniform.     

Lyapunov regularity of impulsive differential equations

For linear impulsive differential equations, we give a simple criterion for the existence of a nonuniform exponential dichotomy, which includes uniform exponential dichotomies as a very special case. For this we introduce the notion of Lyapunov regularity for a linear impulsive differential equation, in terms of the so-called regularity coefficient. The theory is then used to show that if the Lyapunov exponents are nonzero, then there is a nonuniform exponential behavior, which can be expressed in terms of the Lyapunov exponents of the differential equation and of the regularity coefficient. We also consider the particular case of nonuniform exponential contractions when there are only negative Lyapunov exponents. Having this relation in mind, it is also of interest to provide alternative characterizations of Lyapunov regularity, and particularly to obtain sharp lower and upper bound for the regularity coefficient. In particular, we obtain bounds expressed in terms of the matrices defining the impulsive linear system, and we obtain characterizations in terms of the exponential growth rate of volumes. In addition we establish the persistence of the stability of a linear impulsive differential equation under sufficiently small nonlinear perturbations.     

Hyperbolicity and integral expression of the Lyapunov exponents for linear cocycles

Consider in this paper a linear skew-product system

     

Integral conditions for exponential dichotomy: A nonlinear approach

We give new necessary and sufficient integral conditions for the existence of exponential dichotomy of skew-product flows. Our methods are based on the structure of the associated stable subspace and unstable subspace. We propose a nonlinear approach, extending the study of exponential stability in terms of integral conditions to the case of uniform exponential dichotomy. We apply the main results to the study of uniform exponential dichotomy of non-autonomous systems.     

Stability of dichotomies in difference equations with infinite delay

For delay difference equations with infinite delay we consider the notion of nonuniform exponential dichotomy. This includes the notion of uniform exponential dichotomy as a very special case. Our main aim is to establish a stable manifold theorem under sufficiently small nonlinear perturbations. We also establish the robustness of nonuniform exponential dichotomies under sufficiently small linear perturbations. Finally, we characterize the nonuniform exponential dichotomies in terms of strict Lyapunov sequences. In particular, we construct explicitly a strict Lyapunov sequence for each exponential dichotomy.     

Robustness of nonuniform exponential dichotomies in Banach spaces

We give conditions for the robustness of nonuniform exponential dichotomies in Banach spaces, in the sense that the existence of an exponential dichotomy for a given linear equation x^′=A(t)x persists under a sufficiently small linear perturbation. We also establish the continuous dependence with the perturbation of the constants in the notion of dichotomy and of the “angles” between the stable and unstable subspaces. Our proofs exhibit (implicitly) the exponential dichotomies of the perturbed equations in terms of fixed points of appropriate contractions. We emphasize that we do not need the notion of admissibility (of bounded nonlinear perturbations). We also obtain related robustness results in the case of nonuniform exponential contractions. In addition, we establish an appropriate version of robustness for nonautonomous dynamical systems with discrete time.