An inverse problem of determining a nonlinear term in an ordinary differential equation (Q1978204)

The following inverse problem is discussed. Given functions the \(a(\lambda)\), \(b(\lambda)\) on \([0,\Lambda ]\), \(a(0) = 0\), \(b(0)=1\), \(a(\lambda) >0\), \(b(\lambda)>1\) for \(\lambda \in (0,\Lambda ]\), find a function \(f(u)\) such that the (overdetermined) boundary value problem \[ u_{xx}(x,\lambda) = \lambda f'(u(x,\lambda)), \quad 0 \leq x \leq 1, \] \[ u(0,\lambda) = 1, \quad u_x (0,\lambda) = a(\lambda), \quad u(1,\lambda) = b(\lambda), \] admits a solution \(u(x,\lambda)\) for each \(\lambda \in [0,\Lambda ]\). Sufficient conditions for the existence of the above problem generalize results by \textit{A. Lorenzi} [Appl. Anal. 46, 129-143 (1992; Zbl 0788.34006)]. A uniqueness result on determining a nonlinear term is proved as well. The proofs of the main results are based on the implicit function theorem.