On the solvability of a system of wave and beam equations (Q1347471)

The author considers a system of wave and beam equations with linear coupling and damping which provides a model for a suspension bridge where the main cable is thought of as a vibrating string and the road bed as a vibrating beam. This system is transformed into an operator equation \(Lu-Au-N(u)=h\) in \(H:=L^2(\Omega)\times L^2(\Omega)\) with \(\Omega=(0,2\pi)\times(0,\pi)\), \(L\) is the differential operator in \(H\) corresponding to the wave operator \(u\mapsto\frac{\partial^2u}{\partial t^2}-\frac{\partial^2u}{\partial x^2}\) and the beam operator \(\frac{\partial^2v}{\partial t^2}+\frac{\partial^4v}{\partial x^4}+\beta\frac{\partial v}{\partial t}\), \(A\) is the multiplication operator corresponding to the linear coupling, and \(N\) is the Nemytskij operator corresponding to the nonlinearity. The matrix spectrum \(\sigma_M(L)\) of \(L\) is defined to be the set of those \(2\times 2\) real matrices \(B\) such that \(L-B\) is not continuously invertible (where we identify a matrix with the associated multiplication operator on \(H\)). The author here deals with the resonance case \(A\in\sigma_M(L)\), and he is looking for weak solutions. To this end, he imposes conditions on the nonlinearity which enable him to apply the degree theory developed by the author and \textit{V. Mustonen} [Differ. Int. Equ. 3, No. 5, 945-963 (1990; Zbl 0724.47024)].