Introduction to Functional Differential Equations

The present book builds upon the earlier work of J. Hale, Theory of Functional Differential Equations published in 1977. The authors have attempted to maintain the spirit of that book and have retained approximately one-third of the material intact. One major change was a completely new presentation of linear systems (Chapter 6-9) for retarded and neutral functional differential equations. The theory of dissipative systems (Chapter 4) and global attractors was thoroughly revamped as well as the invariant manifold theory (Chapter 10) near equilibrium points and periodic orbits. A more complete theory of neutral equations is presented (Chapters 1,2,3,9,10). Chapter 12 is also entirely new and contains a guide to active topics of research. In the sections on supplementary remarks, the authors have included many references to recent literature, but, of course, not nearly all, because the subject is so extensive.