Positivity and stability of linear functional differential equations with infinite delay

Abstract

General linear functional differential equations with infinite delay are considered. We first give an explicit criterion for positivity of the solution semigroup of linear functional differential equations with infinite delay and then a Perron‐Frobenius type theorem for positive equations. Next, a novel criterion for the exponential asymptotic stability of positive equations is presented. Furthermore, two sufficient conditions for the exponential asymptotic stability of positive equations subjected to structured perturbations and affine perturbations are provided. Finally, we applied the obtained results to problems of the exponential asymptotic stability of Volterra integrodifferential equations. To the best of our knowledge, most of the results of this paper are new.