Multiple positive solutions of some nonlinear heat flow problems (Q934505)

The author studies the existence and multiple positive solutions for the weakly singular nonlocal boundary value problem (BVP) \[ \begin{gathered} u''(t)+g(t)f(t,u(t))=0,\quad t \in (0,1),\\ u'(0)=0,\;\beta u'(1)+u(\eta)=0.\end{gathered} \] This problem has been studied previously by \textit{G. Infante} and \textit{J. R. L. Webb} [NoDEA, Nonlinear Differ. Equ. Appl. 13, No.~2, 249--261 (2006; Zbl 1112.34017)], who were motivated by some earlier work of \textit{P. Guidotti} and \textit{S. Merino} [Differ. Integral Equ. 13, No.~10--12, 1551--1568 (2000; Zbl 0983.35013)], and arises in the study of the steady states of a heated bar of length one, where a controller at \(t=1\) adds or removes heat according to the temperature detected by a sensor at \(t=\eta\). The author studies this BVP by seeking fixed points of the Hammerstein integral operator \[ Tu(t):=\int^1_0 k(t,s)g(s)f(s,u(s))ds. \] A nice feature of this paper is that the author, utilizing previous results of \textit{J. R. L. Webb} and \textit{K. Q. Lan} [Topol. Methods Nonlinear Anal. 27, No.~1, 91--115 (2006; Zbl 1146.34020)], proves the existence of positive solutions also by studying the relationship between the behaviour of the nonlinearity \(f\) near \(0\) and \(\infty\) and the principal characteristic value \(\mu_1\) of the compact linear integral operator \[ Lu(t):=\int^1_0 k(t,s)g(s)u(s)ds. \] The author provides a careful analysis of constants that occur in his theory, obtaining optimal values of these constants, and improves the results of [NoDEA, Nonlinear Differ. Equ. Appl. 13, No.~2, 249--261 (2006; Zbl 1112.34017)].