S-shaped bifurcation curves for nonlinear two-parameter problems (Q2637062)

In this paper the author studies the problem \[ -u''(t)=\lambda\left(1+u(t)+u(t)^2-\varepsilon u(t)^p\right)\text{, }t\in I:=\left(-\frac{1}{2},\frac{1}{2}\right) \] subject to the boundary conditions \[ u\left(-\frac{1}{2}\right)=u\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)=0 \] and the positivity assumption \[ u(t)>0\text{, }t\in I. \] Here \(p>2\) is assumed, whereas \(\lambda\), \(\varepsilon>0\) are parameters. The author presents five interrelated results, which principally concern asymptotic formulae for the quantity \(\lambda_{\varepsilon}(\alpha)\) as either \(\alpha\to0^+\) or \(\varepsilon\to0^+\). Here \(\alpha\) arises from the fact that the problem has the solution \(\left(\lambda_{\varepsilon}(\alpha),u_{\varepsilon,\alpha}\right)\in\mathbb{R}^{+}\times\mathcal{C}^{2}\left(\overline{I}\right)\), where \(\| u_{\varepsilon,\alpha}\|_{L^{\infty}}=\alpha\). The paper is well written and should be of interest to those researchers interested in the qualitative theory of ordinary differential equations.