Disconjugacy conditions and spectrum structure of clamped beam equations with two parameters (Q2177005)

The paper is devoted to the study of the existence of solutions of the following boundary value problem \[u^{(4)}(t)+\beta\,u''(t)-\alpha\, u(t)=f(t,u(t)), \; t \in (0,1), \, u(0) = u'(0) = u(1) = u'(1) = 0,\] where \(\alpha\), \(\beta \in {\mathbb R}\) and \(f\) is a continuous function such that \(f(t,u)\,u > 0\) uniformly for \(t\in [0,1]\) and for all \(u \neq 0\). The existence results are based on assuming some suitable asymptotic behavior of function \(f\) at \(u=0\) and at \(u=+\infty\). To deduce the results, the authors make a complete study of the linear part of the equation, by attaining sufficient conditions and necessary and sufficient conditions on the values of the parameters \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\) for which the linear equation \[ u^{(4)}(t)+\beta\,u''(t)-\alpha\, u(t) \] is disconjugate on \([0,1]\). The spectrum structure of such fourth-order linear operator is also obtained. This study is fundamental to ensure the existence of a Green's function related to the linear equation coupled to these boundary conditions and that such Green's function has constant sign on its square of definition.