"The role of Hill equation in the study of torsional instability in suspension bridge models", Lecture notes of seminario interdisciplinare di matematica. Ediz. inglese

The present survey aims to highlight how the theory of Hill equation turns out to be a crucial tool of investigation when dealing with torsional stability in suspension bridges models. More precisely, we first recall some basic facts about Hill stability and instability domains and then we explain how these results allow to give some theoretical answers concerning the origin of torsional instability, the shape of torsional oscillations and the rule governing the energy transfer between different oscillating modes.