Existence of positive, negative and sign-changing periodic solutions for a class of integral equations (Q964974): Difference between revisions

\textit{S. G. Kang, G. Zhang} and \textit{B. Shi} [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 323, No.~1, 654--665 (2006; Zbl 1104.45006)] have established three positive periodic solutions for a class of integral equations by means of the Leggett-Williams fixed point theorem. The question then arises as to whether there are three solutions with different types of sign regularities. This is a relatively difficult question. But in a recent paper by \textit{F. Li, Z. Liang, Q. Zhang} and \textit{Y. Li} [ibid. 327, No.~2, 1010--1028 (2007; Zbl 1114.47052)], the existence of sign-changing solutions for nonlinear operator equations is discussed using the topological degree and fixed point index theory. The corresponding results are shown to be useful in deriving sign-changing solutions of integral equations. In this paper, the authors are also interested in deriving the simultaneous existence of three solutions for an integral equation which are positive, negative and `sign-changing'. The integral equation, however, involves spaces with periodic structure and hence is different from the Hammerstein type equation studied by Li, Liang, Zhang, and Li [loc. cit.]. The main result of this paper is different from most existing results since they provide three constant sign periodic solutions only.