Global structure of positive solutions for a singular fourth-order integral boundary value problem (Q2321453)

Summary: We consider fourth-order boundary value problems \(u''''(t) = \lambda h(t) f(u(t))\), \(0 < t < 1\), \(u(0) = \int_0^1 u(s) d \alpha(s)\), \(u'(0) = u(1) = u'(1) = 0\), where \(\int_0^1 u(s) d \alpha(s)\) is a Stieltjes integral with \(\alpha(t)\) being nondecreasing and \(\alpha(t)\) being not a constant on \([0,1]\); \(h(t)\) may be singular at \(t = 0\) and \(t = 1\), \(h \in C((0,1), [0, \infty))\) with \(h(t) \not\equiv 0\) on any subinterval of \((0,1)\); \(f \in C([0, \infty), [0, \infty))\) and \(f(s) > 0\) for all \(s > 0\), and \(f_0 = \infty\), \(f_{\infty} = 0\), \(f_0 = \lim_{s \rightarrow 0^+} f(s) / s\), \(f_{\infty} = \lim_{s \rightarrow + \infty} f(s) / s \). We investigate the global structure of positive solutions by using global bifurcation techniques.