Exponential estimates for singularly perturbed linear fuctional differential equations

Exponential estimates on the fundamental matrix, uniform on the perturbation parameter, are obtained for singularly perturbed systems of linear retarded functional differential equations, under the assumption that the eigenvalues of a certain coefficient matrix in the system have negative real parts. The exponential rates in the estimates are computable from upper bounds on the real parts of the characteristic values of the system or of associated simpler equations. Differences between differential-difference equations and equations with distributed delays are emphasized.