A Hille-Wintner type comparison theorem for second order difference equations.
A quite general model of the nonlinear interaction of two impulse systems describing some types of cardiac arrhythmias is developed. Taking into account a refractory time the phase locking phenomena are investigated. Effects of the tongue splitting and their interweaving in the parametric space are found. The results obtained allow us to predict the behavior of excitable systems with two pacemakers depending on the type and intensity of their interaction and the initial phase.
A competition model is described by a nonlinear first-order differential equation (of Riccati type). Its solution is then used to construct a functional equation in two variables (admitting essentially the same solution) and several iterative functional equations; their continuous solutions are presented in various forms (closed form, power series, integral representation, asymptotic expansion, continued fraction). A constant C = 0.917... (inherent in the model) is shown to be a transcendental number....