Global Behavior of the Difference Equationxn+1=xn-1g(xn)

Abstract

We consider the following difference equationxn+1=xn-1g(xn),n=0,1,…,where initial valuesx-1,x0∈[0,+∞)andg:[0,+∞)→(0,1]is a strictly decreasing continuous surjective function. We show the following. (1) Every positive solution of this equation converges toa,0,a,0,…,or0,a,0,a,…for somea∈[0,+∞). (2) Assumea∈(0,+∞). Then the set of initial conditions(x-1,x0)∈(0,+∞)×(0,+∞)such that the positive solutions of this equation converge toa,0,a,0,…,or0,a,0,a,…is a unique strictly increasing continuous function or an empty set.