Existence and multiplicity of solutions to even order ordinary differential equations via variational methods (Q2267567)

The authors investigate a boundary value problem for an even order ordinary differential equation with a nonlinear term whose antiderivative has at most quadratic growth. Using the projective operator, the authors find an equivalent nonlinear Hammerstein integral equation with a quasi-positive definite kernel for which they further prove the existence of at least one solution, two nontrivial solutions and finite pairs of solutions, respectively. As an application, they find corresponding existence and multiplicity results for the even order boundary value problem. An example of a fourth order boundary value problem is given at the end of the paper. The results of this paper extend some already known results for second and fourth order problems where similar techniques were applied.