On the periodic and antiperiodic aspects of the Floquet normal form

Abstract

Floquet's Theorem is a celebrated result in the theory of ordinary differential equations. Essentially, the theorem states that, when studying a linear differential system with $T$-periodic coefficients, we can apply a, possibly complex, $T$-periodic change of variables that transforms it into a linear system with constant coefficients. In this paper, we explore further the question of the nature of this change of variables. We state necessary and sufficient conditions for it to be real and $T$-periodic. Failing those conditions, we prove that we can still find a real change of variables that is "partially" $T$-periodic and "partially" $T$-antiperiodic. We also present applications of this new form of Floquet's Theorem to the study of the behavior of solutions of nonlinear differential systems near periodic orbits.