Attraction properties of unbounded solutions for a nonlinear Abel integral equation (Q2476482)

The authors consider nontrivial solutions of the nonlinear Abel integral equation \[ u(x) = Tu(x) := \int_0^x (x-s)^\alpha u(s)^\beta\,ds \] on \([0,\infty)\) with \(\alpha \in (-1,0)\) and \(\beta > -1/\alpha\). It is known that a nontrivial solution of this equation is given by \(u(x) = K x^\gamma\) with \(\gamma = (\alpha+1)/(1-\beta) < 0\) with a certain constant \(K > 0\) that may be computed explicitly. Evidently, this solution is unbounded near the origin. It is shown that functions of the form \(v(x) = u(x) + c x^p\) with certain \(c\) and \(p\) are attracted by this solution in the sense that \(\lim_{n \to \infty} T^n v(x) = u(x)\) for all \(x>0\). In addition the authors prove that there also exist functions that are not attracted by \(u\).