On the Fučik spectrum of the \(p\)-Laplacian with indefinite weights (Q1608740)

The author studies the Fučik spectrum associated with the operator \[ Lu=\alpha m(t)( u^{+}) ^{p-1}-\beta n(t)( u^{-}) ^{p-1}, \tag \(*\) \] where \(Lu\) is the one-dimensional \(p\)-Laplacian defined by \(Lu:=-[ a(t)f_{p}( u') ]' \), where \(t\in \) \(( T_{1},T_{2}) \) and \(f_{p}( s) :=|s|^{p-2}s\) with either Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions. Recall that the Fučik spectrum \(\Sigma \) is the set of all real numbers \(( \alpha,\beta) \) such that \((*)\) has a nontrivial solution. The weights \(m\) and \(n\) are allowed to change sign, under a non-turning point condition. This setting allows one to use the shooting method to find nontrivial solutions. The results extend previous ones obtained by the author [A. Benkirane (ed.) et al., Partial differential equations. Proceedings of the international conference, Fez, Morocco. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker. Lect. Notes Pure Appl. Math. 229, 45-62 (2002; Zbl 1142.35534)] and by the author and \textit{J.-P. Gossez} [Differ. Integral Equ. 14, 1511-1530 (2001; Zbl 1028.34074)]. For example, in the particular case \(p=2,\) i.e., when \(L\) is a linear operator and \(m=n\) then \(\Sigma \) contains two vertical and two horizontal lines, two hyperbolas with branches in quadrants I and III and a finite number of curves in quadrants II and IV. This number depends on the number of sign changes in \(m\). The author also deals with the asymptotic behavior of the closest curve to the trivial lines.