Existence criteria for singular boundary value problems modelling the membrane response of a spherical cap (Q1870870)

This paper presents existence results for the boundary value problem \[ y''+ q(t) f(t,y)= 0,\quad t\in (0,1),\qquad y(0)= y'(1)+ \psi(y(1))= 0. \] The nonlinearity \(f\) is allowed to change sign, and \(\psi\in (\mathbb{R},\mathbb{R})\). To establish the existence of a solution, the problem is approximated by a sequence of nonsingular problems, each of which has a lower solution and an upper solution. Using the Schauder fixed-point theorem and the Arzela-Ascoli theorem, the authors complete the proof. Various arrangements of assumptions and existence results for mixed boundary data are presented. An example in the theory of membrane response of a spherical cap is discussed, too.