Eigenvalues of a system of Fredholm integral equations (Q1765038)

The authors consider two systems of Fredhlom integral equations, one on a finite interval \([0,1]\) and the other on the half-line \([0,\infty)\). A solution \(u= (u_1,u_2,\dots, u_n)\) of the former system is sought in \(C[0,1]^n\) and a solution \(u= (u_1,u_2,\dots, u_n)\) for the latter system is sought in a subset of \((BC[0,\infty))^n\), where \(BC[0,\infty)\) denotes the space of functions that are bounded and continuous on \([0,\infty)\). In both cases, \(u\) is called a solution of constant sign. For each of the system of equations, those values of \(\lambda\) are characterized for which the system has a constant-sign solution. \(\lambda\) is called an eigenvalue and \(u\) the corresponding eigenfunction of the system, if for a particular \(\lambda\) the system has a constant-sign solution. The paper consists of five sections dealing with the Krasnosel'skij's fixed point theorem, establishment of the condition for the set of eigenvalues \(E\) to contain an interval and for \(E\) to be an interval (bounded or unbounded), explicit sub-intervals are derived, and applications to boundary value problems, respectively.