Ulam Stability for Boundary Value Problems of Differential Equations—Main Misunderstandings and How to Avoid Them

Abstract

Ulam type stability is an important property studied for different types of differential equations. When this type of stability is applied to boundary value problems, there are some misunderstandings in the literature. In connection with this, initially, we give a brief overview of the basic ideas of the application of Ulam type stability to initial value problems. We provide several examples with simulations to illustrate the main points in the application. Then, we focus on some misunderstandings in the application of Ulam stability to boundary value problems. We suggest a new way to avoid these misunderstandings and how to keep the main idea of Ulam type stability when it is applied to boundary value problems of differential equations. We present one possible way to connect both the solutions of the given problem and the solutions of the corresponding inequality. In addition, we provide several examples with simulations to illustrate the ideas for boundary value problems and we also show the necessity of the new way of applying the Ulam type stability. To illustrate the theoretical application of the suggested idea to Ulam type stability, we consider a linear boundary value problem for nonlinear impulsive fractional differential equations with the Caputo fractional derivative with respect to another function and piecewise-constant variable order. We define the Ulam–Hyers stability and obtain sufficient conditions on a finite interval. As partial cases, integral presentations of the solutions of boundary value problems for various types of fractional differential equations are obtained and their Ulam type stability is studied.