Asymptotic behavior of solutions of nonlinear discrete systems in critical cases

Abstract The paper is dedicated to the analysis of the asymptotic behavior of essentially nonlinear discrete systems whose linearization possesses eigenvalues on the unit circle. For these systems, the paper establishes sufficient conditions for the asymptotic stability regardless of terms higher than the third order. Moreover, it derives an asymptotic stability criterium for a reduced critical subsystem. The proof incorporates a constructive approach for deriving Lyapunov functions using the center manifold reduction and normal form method. The key result of the paper asserts that, given the obtained stability conditions, the solutions of the system converge to the origin with a polynomial decay rate. The paper also introduces a method for evaluating the coefficients of the decay rate estimate. To illustrate these findings, we apply the obtained result to analyzing nonlinear business cycle and predator-pray models.