``Mild solutions'' and variation of constants formula for delay differential equations

The method and the formula of variation of constants for ordinary differential equations (ODEs) is a fundamental tool to analyze the dynamics of an ODE near an equilibrium. It is natural to expect that such a formula works for delay differential equations (DDEs), however, it is well-known that there is a conceptual difficulty in the formula for DDEs. In this talk, we discuss the variation of constants formula for DDEs by introducing the notion of a \textit{mild solution}, which is a solution under an initial condition having a discontinuous history function.