A three point boundary value problem containing the operator \(-(\phi(u'))'\) (Q1422523)

This paper deals with the existence of solutions of the following three-point boundary value problem at resonance \[ (\phi(u'))' = f(t, u, u'),\quad t\in(0,1),\quad u'(0) = 0,\;u(\eta) = u(1), \] where \(\phi\) is an odd increasing homeomorphism which satisfies \(\phi(0)=0\), \(\eta\in(0,1)\) is a given number and \(f\) is a continuous function. This problem is at resonance in the sense that the associated three-point boundary value problem with a zero right-hand side \(f\) has the nontrivial solution \(u(t)=A\), where \(A\) is an arbitrary constant. The main goal of this paper is to generalize known existence results of \textit{W. Feng} and \textit{J. R. L. Webb} [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 212, No. 2, 467--480 (1997; Zbl 0883.34020)], which concern only the case \(\phi(s)=s\) (\((\phi(u'))' = u''\)) and are proved using a coincidence degree theorem due to \textit{J. Mawhin} [Topological degree methods in nonlinear boundary value problems. Regional Conference Series in Mathematics, No. 40, R.I.: AMS (1979; Zbl 0414.34025)]. In the case of the general nonlinear operator \((\phi(u'))'\), the authors cannot use coincidence degree. Thus, a continuation lemma is used instead, which is proved by \textit{M. García-Huidobro}, \textit{C. P. Gupta} and \textit{R. Manásevich} [Abstr. Appl. Anal. 6, No. 4, 191--213 (2001; Zbl 1006.34014)]. The key point of the presented proof is to obtain a-priori bounds for solutions in \(C^{1}\). Finally, the \(p\)-Laplace operator \((\phi_{p}(u'))'=(| u'| ^{p-2}u')', p>1\), is also investigated as a special case.