Monotonicity of the period function for \(u''-u+u^p=0\) with \(p\in \mathbb R\) and \(p>1\) (Q2434379)

With the initial condition \((u(0), u'(0)) = (u_1, 0)\), the author proves that the period of the trajectory of the second-order ordinary differential equation \[ u''- u + u^p = 0 \] for real \(p > 1\) is strictly decreasing as \(u_1\) increases from \(0\) to \(1\). He applies this result to the Neumann problem in \((-1, 1)\) with \(u'(-1) = u'(1) = 0\) and finds a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation. The Morse index of an interior single-peak solution on the upper branch is always two.