Monotone solutions of Volterra integral equations (Q1821291)

The author studies the existence of monotone (increasing or decreasing) solutions of the Volterra equation \[ x(t)=f(t)+\int^{t}_{0}k(t- s)U(s,x(s)) ds,\quad t\geq 0, \] and its special case \(x(t)=f(t)+\int^{t}_{0}k(t-s)T(x(s)) ds,\quad t\geq 0.\) A large number of sufficient conditions are given and examples where the results are applicable are also provided. In addition to some natural assumptions involving nonnegativity, monotonicity etc., the author also uses monotonicity assumptions on comparison functions like \(I(t)=f(t)+U(0,f(0))\int^{t}_{0}k(s)ds+L\int^{t}_{0}\int^{u}_{ 0}k(s)ds du\), (where L is determined by the condition U(t,x)-U(s,x)\(\geq L(t-s)\) when \(t\geq s)\), \(J(t)=f(t)+T(f(0))\int^{t}_{0}k(s)ds\) and \(t\mapsto k(t)/J'(t+s)\).