Multiplicity results for positive solutions of some semi-positone three-point boundary value problems (Q1433370)

The author studies the second-order three-point boundary value problem \[ y''+f(t,y)=0, \;0<t<1 ,\quad y(0)=0, \;\alpha y(\eta)=y(1), \leqno(1) \] with \(0<\alpha, \eta, \alpha \eta <1\). Further, \(\phi_0(t)h_0(y)-p(t) \leq f(t,y)\leq \phi(t)(g(y)+h(y)), \) where \(\phi_0, \phi \in C((0,1),(0,\infty))\), \(g\in C((0,\infty),(0,\infty))\) is nonincreasing and \(h_0, h \in C([0,\infty),[0,\infty))\) are nondecreasing. It is not assumed that \(f\) is nonnegative on \([0,\infty)\). Such problems are referred in the literature to semi-positone ones. By using the fixed-point index method, the author gives some multiplicity results for positive solutions of (1), where by a positive solution of (1) one means a function \(y\in C[0,1]\cap C^2(0,1)\) satisfying (1) and \(y(t)>0\) on \((0,1)\).