In the theory of the asymptotic solution or stability of ordinary differential equations most attention has been given to linear or nearly-linear cases. Investigations in this field, starting primarily with those of Kneser (7) on the equation y″ + f(x)y = 0, have by now mostly been summed up in results on the vector-matrix system dy/dx = Ay + f (y, x), where y and f denote n-vectors of functions, and A an n-by-n matrix, frequently assumed constant.

The central difference of order s of the function f(x), Δs2hf(x), corresponding to a number h > 0, is defined inductively by the relations

.

If the limit of the difference quotient

exists at the point x, it is called the sth Riemann derivative or the generalized sth derivative of fix) at the point x.

It is the purpose of this paper to establish a closer connection between the logarithmic capacity of sets and double trigonometric series. In (9), closed sets of logarithmic capacity zero were established as sets of uniqueness for a particular class of double trigonometric series under circular (C, 1) summability. By slightly changing this class of series but still maintaining closed sets of logarithmic capacity zero as sets of uniqueness, it is shown in this paper that closed sets of positive logarithmic capacity form sets of multiplicity.