Nondegeneracy and uniqueness of positive solutions for Robin problem of second order ordinary differential equations and its applications (Q2383027)

The paper discusses the Robin problem \[ \begin{cases} u''+u^p=0, &-l<x<+l,\\ u>0, &-l<x<+l,\\ \alpha u'(-l)-\beta u(-l)=0,\\ \gamma u'(l)+\eta u(l)=0, \end{cases}\tag{1} \] where \(p, l>0\) and \(\alpha, \beta, \gamma, \eta\geq0\) are real numbers. A solution is called nondegenerate if the linearized problem \[ \begin{cases} \psi''+pu^{p-1}\psi=0, &-l<x<+l,\\ \psi>0, &-l<x<+l,\\ \alpha \psi'(-l)-\beta \psi(-l)=0,\\ \gamma \psi'(l)+\eta \psi(l)=0, \end{cases} \] has only the trivial solution. In case \(p>1,\) the authors prove that problem (1) has exactly one solution which is nondegenerate. This result is then applied to study the nonhomogeneous problem \[ \begin{cases} u''+u^p=-\lambda f(x), &-l<x<+l,\\ u>0, &-l<x<+l,\\ \alpha u'(-l)-\beta u(-l)=0,\\ \gamma u'(l)+\eta u(l)=0, \end{cases}\tag{2} \] where \(p>0\), \(p\not=1,\) \(\lambda>0,\) \(\alpha, \beta, \gamma, \eta>0\) and \(f\in C^\alpha([-l,+l])\setminus\{0\}.\) In cases either \(p<1\) or \(p>1\), a sufficient and necessary condition for (2) to have one or two solutions is given in terms of the function \(f.\) The second example of application is concerned with the following convex-concave nonlinear problem: \[ \begin{cases} u''+u^p=-\lambda u^q, &-l<x<+l,\\ u>0, &-l<x<+l,\\ \alpha u'(-l)-\beta u(-l)=0,\\ \gamma u'(l)+\eta u(l)=0, \end{cases}\tag{3} \] where \(0<q<1<p.\) The authors show the existence of a positive number \(\lambda_0\) such that problem (3) has exactly two solutions for any \(\lambda\in(0,\lambda_0).\)