The Dirichlet problem for the fourth order nonlinear ordinary differential equations at resonance (Q2227007)

This paper discusses the solvability of the following fourth order boundary value problem \[u^{(4)}(t)=p(t)u(t)+f(t,u(t))+h(t),\;t\in I=[a,b],\tag{1}\] \[u^{(i)}(a)=0,\,u^{(i)}(b)=0,\,i=0,1,\tag{2}\] where \(h, p\in L(I, \mathbb R)\) and \(f:I\times \mathbb R\to \mathbb R\) is a Carathéodory function. The authors suppose that the problem \[w^{(4)}(t)=p(t)w(t),\;t\in I,\tag{3}\] \[w^{(i)}(a)=0,\,w^{(i)}(b)=0,\,i=0,1\tag{4}\] has a nonzero solution \(w,\) introduce the set \({N_p:=\{t\in I: w(t)=0\}}\) and for a finite subset \(A=\{t_1,\dots, t_k\}\) of \(I\) introduce the set \(E(A)\) of all Carathéodory functions \(f : I\times \mathbb R\to \mathbb R\) such that for an arbitrary neighbourhood \(U(A)\) of \(A\) and a positive constant \(r\) there exists \(\alpha_1>0\) with the property \[\int\limits_{U'(A)\setminus U_\alpha}|f(s,x)|ds\, - \, \int\limits_{U_\alpha}|f(s,x)|ds\geq0\;\;\text{for}\;\;|x|\geq r,\;\alpha\leq\alpha_1,\] where \(U'(A)=I\cap U(A),\) and \(U_\alpha=I\cap\Bigl(\cup_{j=1}^k[t_j-\alpha, t_j+\alpha]\Bigr).\) Besides for an arbitrary \(r>0\) \(f^*(t,r)=\sup\{|f(t,x)|: |x|\leq r\}\in L(I, [0,+\infty))\) and \[[x(t)]_+=(|x(t)|+x(t))/2,\;[x(t)]_-=(|x(t)|-x(t))/2\] for a function \(x: I\to \mathbb R.\) One of the main results guarantees at least one solution of (1), (2), i.e. at least one function \(u\in\widetilde{C}^3(I, \mathbb R)\) wich satisfies (1) almost everywhere on \(I\) and satisfies (2), under the assumptions that \(r>0\) and the functions \(f\in E(N_p), f^+, f^-\in L(I, [0,+\infty))\) are such that for \(j\in\{0,1\}\) \[(-1)^j f(t,x)\leq -f^-(t)\;\;\text{for}\;\;x\leq-r,\;t\in I,\] \[f^+(t)\leq(-1)^j f(t,x)\;\;\text{for}\;\;x\geq r,\;t\in I,\] \[\lim_{\rho\to+\infty} \frac{1}{\rho}\int\limits_a^b f^*(s,\rho)ds=0,\] and there exists \(\varepsilon>0\) such that for an arbitrary nonzero solution \(w\) of (3), (4) the following holds \[-\int\limits_a^b\Bigl( f^+(s)[w(s)]_-+f^-(s)[w(s)]_+\Bigr)ds+\varepsilon\gamma_r||w||_C\] \[\leq(-1)^{j+1}\int\limits_a^b h(s)w(s)ds\leq\int\limits_a^b\Bigl( f^-(s)[w(s)]_-+f^+(s)[w(s)]_+\Bigr)ds - \varepsilon\gamma_r||w||_C,\] where \(\gamma_r=\int\limits_a^b f^*(s,r)ds.\)