Existence of multiple positive solutions for functional differential equations (Q1827219)

The authors consider the boundary value problem \[ \begin{aligned} y''(t)+f(t,y^t)=0, &\qquad t\in[0,1], \\ \alpha y(t)-\beta y'(t)=\eta(t),&\qquad t\in[-\tau,0],\\ \gamma y(t)+\delta y'(t)=\xi(t),&\qquad t\in[1,1+a], \end{aligned} \] where \(\tau\), \(a\), \(\alpha\), \(\beta\), \(\gamma\), and \(\delta\) are nonnegative constants, \(\gamma\beta+\alpha\gamma+\alpha\delta>0\), \(f\in C([0,1]\times C([-\tau,a];\mathbb{R});\mathbb{R}_+)\), \(y^t(\theta)=y(t+\theta)\) for \(\theta\in[-\tau,0]\), \(\eta\in C([-\tau,0];\mathbb{R})\), \(\xi\in C([1,1+a];\mathbb{R})\), \(\eta(0)=\xi(1)=0\). Conditions guaranteeing the existence of at least three positive (in particular, partially symmetric) solutions are established. The proof is based on the Leggett-Williams fixed-point theorem.