A global multiplicity result for two-point boundary value problems of \(p\)-Laplacian systems (Q977290)

The authors are concerned with the existence, nonexistence and multiplicity of solutions to the following \(p\)-Laplacian system: \[ \begin{cases} -(\varphi_p(u'(t)))'+\lambda h_1(t)f(t,u(t),v(t)), &0<t<1,\\ -(\varphi_p(v'(t)))'+\mu h_2(t)g(t,u(t),v(t)), &0<t<1,\\ u(0)=a>0, \;v(0)=b>0,\;u(1)=v(1)=0, \end{cases}\tag{P} \] where \(\varphi_p(x)=| x|^{p-2}x\), \(p>1\), \(\lambda\), \(\mu\) are nonnegative real parameters playing the role of eigenvalues of the problem. The functions \(h_i\in C((0,1),(0,\infty))\), \(i=1,2\) may exhibit time-singularities at \(t=0\) but are integrably bounded in the sense that \[ \int_0^1\varphi_p^{-1} \left(\int_t^1h_i(s)\,ds\right)\,dt<\infty,\quad i=1,2. \] The nonlinearities \(f, g\) satisfy \(f(0,0)=g(0,0)=0,\) \(f(u,v),\,g(u,v)>(0,0),\) are quasi-monotone nondecreasing with respect to \(u\) and \(v\) and have super-linear growth at positive infinity. Then, the authors prove that there exists a continuous curve \(\Gamma\) splitting \(\mathbb{R}^2_+\setminus\{(0,0)\}\) into disjoint subsets \(O_1\) and \(O_2\), where \(O_1\) is bounded and \(O_2\) is unbounded, such that problem (P) has at least two positive solutions for \((\lambda,\mu)\in O_1\), at least one positive solution for \((\lambda,\mu)\in\Gamma\) and no solution for \((\lambda,\mu)\in O_2.\) This result extends to the case \(a,b>0\) known results, in particular, some by the same authors, for the Dirichlet boundary conditions \(a=b=0.\) The proof uses the fixed point index theory in cones of weighted Banach spaces. The paper ends with an example of a quasilinear system on an exterior domain.