Fixed points for planar maps with multiple twists, with application to nonlinear equations with indefinite weight

In this paper, we investigate the dynamical properties associated with planar maps which can be represented as a composition of twist maps together with expansive–contractive homeomorphisms. The class of maps we consider present some common features both with those arising in the context of the Poincaré–Birkhoff theorem and those studied in the theory of topological horseshoes. In our main theorems, we show that the multiplicity results of fixed points and periodic points typical of the Poincaré–Birkhoff theorem can be recovered and improved in our setting. In particular, we can avoid assuming area-preserving conditions and we also obtain higher multiplicity results in the case of multiple twists. Applications are given to periodic solutions for planar systems of non-autonomous ODEs with sign-indefinite weights, including the non-Hamiltonian case. The presence of complex dynamics is also discussed. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Topological degree and fixed point theories in differential and difference equations’.