Positive solutions of even order system periodic boundary value problems (Q2654003)

The authors consider the nonlinear boundary value problem \[ (AD^2+ B)^n u= W(t) f(t,u),\quad t\in (0,\omega),\tag{1} \] \[ u^{(k)}(0)= u^k(\omega),\quad k= 0,1,\dots, 2n-1,\tag{2} \] where \(n\in\mathbb{N}\), \(D={d\over dt}\), \(u=(u_1,\dots, u_m)^T\in \mathbb{R}^m_+\), \(A= \text{diag}(a_1,\dots, a_m)\), \(B= \text{diag}(b_1,\dots, b_m)\), with \(a_i= \pm1\), \(b_i> 0\); \(i= 1,\dots, m\); \[ W= (w_{ij})_{m\times m}\in C([0, \omega], \mathbb{R}^{m\times m}_+) \] such that \(\sum^m_{j=1} w_{i_j}(t)\not\equiv 0\) on \([0,\omega]\) for all \(i= 1,\dots, m\), and \[ f= (f_1,\dots, f_m)^T\in C([0,\omega]\times \mathbb{R}^m_+, \mathbb{R}^m_+). \] The existence of one, two, any arbitrary number of positive solutions for problem (1), (2) is proved under some assumptions on the function \(f\).