A multiplicity result for periodic solutions to higher-order ordinary differential equations via the method of upper and lower solutions (Q1277348)

The author studies multiplicity results for higher-order ordinary differential equations of the form \[ x^{(n)}(t)+f(t,x(t))=s; \quad x^{(i)}(0)=x^{(i)}(T), \quad i=0, \ldots, n-1,\tag{\(1 _s\)} \] with \(f\) a Carathéodory function and \(s\) a real parameter. He uses existence results for the problem \((1 _0)\) in the presence of lower and upper solutions derived from known maximum principles for the operator \(L _n u = u^{(n)} + M u\) (\(M \neq 0\)) in the space of periodic functions. It is proved that if \(f\) satisfies \((f(t,x) - f(t,y)) (x-y) \geq -M (x-y)\) for some \(M>0\) such that the operator \(L _n\) is inverse positive, \(\lim _{| x | \to \infty}{f(t,x)}=+\infty\) uniformly in \(t\) and \(| \text{ess sup}_{t \in [0,T]} f(t,0) |< +\infty\) then there exists a real number \(s _0\) such that \((1 _s)\) has no solution for \(s < s _0\), at least one solution for \(s = s _0\) and at least two solutions for \(s > s _0\). In the proof a pair of lower and upper solutions are constructed to assure the existence of solutions. The multiplicity results are given by the excision and addition properties of the coincidence degree.