Multiple solutions for discrete boundary value problems (Q1025017)

Consider the following boundary value problem with homogeneous Dirichlet conditions: \[ -\Delta _{p}x(k-1)=\lambda f(k,x(k)) ,\quad k\in [ 1,T];\;x(0)=0=x(T+1),\tag{\(*\)} \] where \(T\geq 2\) is a positive integer, \([1,T]=\{1,2,\dots,T\},\) \(p>1\) is a real number, \(\Delta _{p}\) is the discrete \(p\)-Laplacian operator defined by \[ \Delta _{p}x(k-1)=\Delta [ \left| \Delta x(k-1)\right| ^{p-2}\Delta x(k-1)] \] \(\Delta\) is the forward difference operator defined by \(\Delta x(k)=x(k+1)-x(k)\) and \(f:[1,T]\times \mathbb R\rightarrow \mathbb R\) is continuous, \(\lambda \in \mathbb R\) is a parameter. The authors prove the existence of a positive \(\lambda _{\ast }\) such that the problem (\(*\)) admits at least three solutions. Several examples are worked out.