Positive solutions for an \(n\)-point nonhomogeneous boundary value problem (Q2486753)

Sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence of at least one positive solution of the \(n\)-point nonhomogeneous boundary value problem of the form \[ \begin{cases} u''+a(t)f(u)=0,\quad 0<t<1,\\ u(0)=0,\quad u(1)-\sum_{i=1}^{n-2}k_iu(\xi_i)=b,\end{cases}\tag{\(*\)} \] where \(b\geq 0\), \(k_i>0\), \(i=1,\dots,n-2\), \(0<\xi_1<\dots<\xi_{n-2}<1\) with \(\sum_{i=1}^{n-2}k_i\xi_i<1,\) \(a\in C([0,1],[0,\infty))\) such that \(a(t)\equiv 0\) does not hold on any sub-interval of \([0,1]\) and \(f\in C([0,\infty),[0,\infty))\). Krasnoselskii's fixed-point theorem in Banach spaces is used to establish the results. The main results in the paper run as follows: Theorem 1: If \(\lim_{u\to 0^+}\frac{f(u)}{u}=0\) and \(\lim_{u\to\infty}\frac{f(u)}{u}=\infty\), then there exists a constant \(b^*>0\) such that the BVP (\(*\)) has at least one positive solution for \(b\in[0,b^*)\) and has no positive solution for \(b>b^*\). Theorem 2: If \(\lim_{u\to 0^+}\frac{f(u)}{u}=\infty\) and \(\lim_{u\to\infty}\frac{f(u)}{u}=0\), then there exists a constant \(b^{**}>0\) such that the BVP (\(*\)) has at least one positive solution for \(b\in[0,b^{**})\) and has no positive solution for \(b>b^{**}\).