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On the Global Character of the System of Piecewise Linear Difference Equations
and ![](//media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_IEq2_HTML.gif)
Advances in Difference Equations volume 2010, Article number: 573281 (2010)
Abstract
We consider the system in the title where the initial condition We show that the system has exactly two prime period-5 solutions and a unique equilibrium point
. We also show that every solution of the system is eventually one of the two prime period-5 solutions or else the unique equilibrium point.
1. Introduction
In this paper, we consider the system of piecewise linear difference equations
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ1_HTML.gif)
where the initial condition . We show that every solution of System (1.1) is eventually either one of two prime period-5 solutions or else the unique equilibrium point
.
System (1.1) was motivated by Devaney's Gingerbread man map [1, 2]
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ2_HTML.gif)
or its equivalent system of piecewise linear difference equations [3, 4]
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ3_HTML.gif)
We believe that the methods and techniques used in this paper will be useful in discovering the global character of solutions of similar systems, including the Gingerbread man map.
2. The Global Behavior of the Solutions of System (1.1)
System (1.1) has the equilibrium point given by
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ4_HTML.gif)
System (1.1) has two prime period-5 solutions,
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ5_HTML.gif)
Set
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ6_HTML.gif)
Theorem 2.1.
Let . Then there exists an integer
such that the solution
is eventually either the prime period-5 solution
, the prime period-5 solution
, or else the unique equilibrium point
.
The proof is a direct consequence of the following lemmas.
Lemma 2.2.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
and
. Then
, and so
is the equilibrium solution.
Proof.
Note that
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ7_HTML.gif)
and so the proof is complete.
Lemma 2.3.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
and
. Then
, and so
is
.
Proof.
We have
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ8_HTML.gif)
and so the proof is complete.
Lemma 2.4.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
and
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
.
-
(2)
If
, then
is
.
-
(3)
If
, then
.
Proof.
We have and
. Then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ9_HTML.gif)
and so statement (1) is true.
If , then
. That is,
and so statement (2) is true.
If , then
, and so statement (3) is true.
Lemma 2.5.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
and
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
.
-
(2)
If
, then
.
-
(3)
If
, then
is
.
Proof.
We have and
. Then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ10_HTML.gif)
and so statement (1) is true.
Now if , then
. Thus
, and so statement (2) is true.
Lastly, if , then
. Thus
; that is,
and so statement (3) is true.
Lemma 2.6.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
and
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
If
, then
is
.
-
(2)
If
, then
is
.
-
(3)
If
, then
and
.
Proof.
First consider the case and
. Then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ11_HTML.gif)
and so statement (1) is true.
Next consider the case and
. Then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ12_HTML.gif)
If , then
and so
. That is,
and so statement (2) is true.
If , then
. Thus
, and so statement (3) is true.
Lemma 2.7.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
and
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
.
-
(2)
If
, then
.
-
(3)
If
, then
is
.
Proof.
Let and
. Then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ13_HTML.gif)
and so statement (1) is true.
If , then
. Thus
, and so statement (2) is true.
If , then
and
. That is,
and so
is
and the proof is complete.
We now give the proof of Theorem 2.1 when is in
.
Lemma 2.8.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
If
, then
is eventually the equilibrium solution.
-
(2)
If
, then the solution
is
.
-
(3)
If
, then the solution
is eventually
.
Proof.
-
(1)
We will first show that statement (1) is true. Suppose
; for each
, let
(2.11)
Observe that
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ15_HTML.gif)
Thus there exists a unique integer such that
.
We first consider the case ; that is,
. By statements (1) and (3) of Lemma 2.4,
and
. Clearly
, and so
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ16_HTML.gif)
Now and
, and so by Lemma 2.2,
is the equilibrium solution.
Without loss of generality, we may assume .
For each integer such that
, let
be the following statement:
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ17_HTML.gif)
Claim 1.
is true for
.
The proof Claim 1 will be by induction on . We will first show that
is true.
Recall that and
. Then by statements (1) and (3) of Lemma 2.4, we have
and
.
Note that,
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ18_HTML.gif)
and so is true. Thus if
, then we have shown that for
,
is true. It remains to consider the case
. So assume that
. Let
be an integer such that
and suppose
is true. We will show that
is true.
Since is true, we know
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ19_HTML.gif)
It is easy to verify that for ,
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ20_HTML.gif)
Thus by statements (1) and (3) of Lemma 2.4,
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ21_HTML.gif)
Recall that .
In particular,
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ22_HTML.gif)
and so is true. Thus the proof of the claim is complete. That is,
is true for
. Specifically,
is true, and so
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ23_HTML.gif)
In particular,
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ24_HTML.gif)
That is, , and so by case
,
is the equilibrium solution, and the proof of statement (1) is complete.
-
(2)
We will next show that statement (2) is true. Suppose
. Note that
. Thus the solution
is
.
-
(3)
Finally, we will show that statement (3) is true. Suppose
.
First consider . By statement (2) of Lemma 2.4, the solution
is
.
Next consider the case . For each
, let
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ25_HTML.gif)
Observe that
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ26_HTML.gif)
Thus there exists a unique integer such that
.
Note that the statement which we stated and proved in the proof of statement (1) of this lemma still holds. Specifically
is true, and so
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ27_HTML.gif)
Recall that for .
In particular,
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ28_HTML.gif)
By statement (2) of Lemma 2.4, the solution is
.
We now give the proof of Theorem 2.1 when is in
.
Lemma 2.9.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
If
, then
is eventually the equilibrium solution.
-
(2)
If
, then the solution
is
.
-
(3)
If
, then the solution
is eventually
.
Proof.
-
(1)
We will first show that statement (1) is true. So suppose
.
Case 1.
Suppose . Then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ29_HTML.gif)
In particular, and
, and so by Lemma 2.2,
is the equilibrium solution.
Case 2.
Suppose . By statements (1) and (2) of Lemma 2.5,
and
. Then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ30_HTML.gif)
Thus and
, and so by Lemma 2.2,
is the equilibrium solution.
Case 3.
Suppose . By statements (1) and (2) of Lemma 2.5,
and
. Note that
and so by statement (1) of Lemma 2.8,
is eventually equilibrium solution.
-
(2)
We will next show that statement (2) is true. Suppose
. By direct calculations we have
. So the solution
is
.
-
(3)
Finally, we will show that statement (3) is true. Suppose
and
.
Case 1.
Suppose . By statements (1) and (2) of Lemma 2.5, we have
and
. Note that
and so by statement (3) of Lemma 2.8, the solution
is eventually
.
Case 2.
Suppose . By statement (3) of Lemma 2.5, the solution
is
.
We now give the proof of Theorem 2.1 when is in
.
Lemma 2.10.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
If
, then
is eventually the equilibrium solution.
-
(2)
If
, then the solution
is
.
-
(3)
If
, then the solution
is eventually
.
Proof.
-
(1)
We will first show that statement (1) is true. So suppose
and
. By statement (3) of Lemma 2.6,
and
. In particular,
and so by statement (1) of Lemma 2.8 and statement (1) of Lemma 2.9,
is eventually the equilibrium solution.
-
(2)
We will next show that statement (2) is true. Suppose
. By direct calculations we have
. Thus the solution
is
.
-
(3)
Finally, we will show statement (3) is true.
First consider the case . By statement (3) of Lemma 2.6,
and
. Now,
and so by statement (3) of Lemma 2.8, the solution
is eventually
.
Next consider the case . Then by statements (1) and (2) of Lemma 2.6, if
then
is
, and if
then
is
.
We next give the proof of Theorem 2.1 when is in
.
Lemma 2.11.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
If
, then
is eventually the equilibrium solution.
-
(2)
If
, then the solution
is
.
-
(3)
If
, then the solution
is eventually
.
Proof.
-
(1)
We will first prove statement (1) is true. Suppose
.
First consider the case . Then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ31_HTML.gif)
In particular, and
and so by Lemma 2.2,
is the equilibrium solution.
Next consider the case . By statements (1) and (2) of Lemma 2.7,
and
. In particular,
and so by statement (1) of Lemma 2.8 and statement (1) of Lemma 2.9,
is eventually the equilibrium solution.
-
(2)
We will next show that statement (2) is true. Suppose
. By direct calculations, we have
. That is,
is
.
-
(3)
Lastly, we will show that statement (3) is true. Suppose
.
First consider the case . By statements (1) and (2) of Lemma 2.7,
and
. In particular,
and so by statement (3) of Lemma 2.8, the solution
is eventually
.
Next consider the case . By statement (3) of Lemma 2.7, the solution
is
.
We next give the proof of Theorem 2.1 when is in
.
Lemma 2.12.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
If
, then the solution
is
.
-
(2)
If
, then there exists an integer
such that
.
Proof.
Suppose and
.
Then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ32_HTML.gif)
Case 1.
Suppose . Then, in particular,
and
. Thus
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ33_HTML.gif)
and so statement (1) is true.
Case 2.
Suppose . Then, in particular,
.
Subcase 1.
Suppose .
Then . It follows by a straight forward computation, which will be omitted, that
. Hence
.
Subcase 2.
Suppose .
Then . It follows by a straight forward computation, which will be omitted, that
. Hence
, and the proof is complete.
We next give the proof of Theorem 2.1 when is in
.
Lemma 2.13.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
If
, then the solution
is the equilibrium solution.
-
(2)
If
, then
.
Proof.
By assumption, we have and
.
If , then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ34_HTML.gif)
Hence is the equilibrium solution and statement (1) is true.
If , then it follows by a straight forward computation, which will be omitted, that
. Thus
and statement (2) is true.
We next give the proof of Theorem 2.1 when is in
.
Lemma 2.14.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
. Then the following statements are true.
-
(1)
If
, then
.
-
(2)
If
, then
.
-
(3)
If
,
and
, then
.
-
(4)
If
,
,
and
, then
.
-
(5)
If
,
,
and
, then
.
Proof.
Now and
.
-
(1)
If
, then
(2.32)Thus
.
-
(2)
If
, then
. It follows by a straight forward computation, which will be omitted, that
(2.33)Hence
.
-
(3)
If
,
, and
, then
. It follows by a straight forward computation, which will be omitted, that
(2.34)Thus
.
-
(4)
If
,
,
, and
, then
. It follows by a straight forward computation, which will be omitted, that
(2.35)Thus
.
-
(5)
Finally, suppose that
,
,
, and
. Then
. It follows by a straight forward computation, which will be omitted, that
(2.36)Note that
(2.37)and so by the first statement of this Lemma,
.
Thus we see that if there exists an integer such that
, then the proof of Theorem 2.1 is complete. Finally, we consider the case where the initial condition
.
Lemma 2.15.
Suppose there exists an integer such that
. Then there exists a positive integer
such that
.
Proof.
Without loss of generality, it suffices to consider the case where
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ41_HTML.gif)
Now , and hence
and
.
Thus
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ42_HTML.gif)
We have , and thus
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ43_HTML.gif)
We also have , and hence
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ44_HTML.gif)
Finally, we have , and so
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2010%2F573281/MediaObjects/13662_2010_Article_1308_Equ45_HTML.gif)
In particular, and hence
.
3. Conclusion
We have presented the complete results concerning the global character of the solutions to System (1.1). We divided the real plane into 8 sections and utilized mathematical induction, proof by iteration, and direct computations to show that every solution of System (1.1) is eventually either the prime period-5 solution , the prime period-5 solution
, or else the unique equilibrium point
. The proofs involve careful consideration of the various cases and subcases.
References
Devaney RL: A piecewise linear model for the zones of instability of an area-preserving map. Physica D 1984,10(3):387-393. 10.1016/0167-2789(84)90187-8
Peitgen HO, Saupe D (Eds): The Science of Fractal Images. Springer, New York, NY, USA; 1991.
Grove EA, Ladas G: Periodicities in Nonlinear Difference Equations. Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, Fla, USA; 2005.
Kulenović MRS, Merino O: Discrete Dynamical Systems and Difference Equations with Mathematica. Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, Fla, USA; 2002:xvi+344.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Strategic Scholarships Fellowships Frontier Research Networks, the Office of the Commission on Higher Education, and National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.
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Tikjha, W., Lenbury, Y. & Lapierre, E. On the Global Character of the System of Piecewise Linear Difference Equations and
.
Adv Differ Equ 2010, 573281 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/573281
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/573281