On the eigenvalues of boundary value problems for higher order difference equations (Q1293417)

The authors consider the boundary value problem \[ \Delta^n y + \lambda Q(k, y, \Delta y,\dots, \Delta^{n-2} y) = \lambda P(k, y, \Delta y,\dots, \Delta^{n-1} y), \quad 0 \leq k \leq N, \tag{1} \] \[ \Delta^i y(0) = 0, \qquad 0 \leq i \leq n-3, \tag{2} \] \[ \alpha \Delta^{n-2} y(0) - \beta \Delta^{n-1} y(0) = 0, \tag{3} \] \[ \gamma \Delta^{n-2} y(N+1) - \delta \Delta^{n-1} y(N+1) = 0, \tag{4} \] where \(\Delta^i\) denotes the \(i\)th forward difference operator with stepsize 1, \(n \geq 2, N (\geq n-1)\) is a fixed positive integer, \(\lambda > 0, \alpha, \beta, \gamma\) and \(\delta\) are constants such that \(\alpha \gamma (N+1) + \alpha \delta + \beta \gamma > 0\) and \(\alpha > 0, \gamma > 0, \beta > 0, \delta \geq \gamma.\) A solution \(y\) to (1) - (4) is said to be positive if \(y\) satisfies (1) on \(\{0,\dots, N\},\) fulfills (2) - (4), and it is nonnegative on \(\{0,\dots, N+n\}\) and positive on \(\{n-1, N+n-2\}.\) The set of values \(\lambda\) for which there exists a positive solution to (1)--(4) is characterized.