Multiple solutions for 2<i>m</i>th order sturm—lioville boundary value problems on a measure chain (Q4511527)

Existence criteria for boundary value problem of the form \[ (-1)^m u^{(2m)}= f(t,u(t)),\quad t\in[0,1], \] \(\alpha_{i+1} u^{(2i)}(0)- \beta_{i+1} u^{(2i+ 1)}(0)= 0= \gamma_{i+1} u^{(2i)}(1)+ \delta_{i+1} u^{(2i+1)}(1)\), \(0\leq i\leq m+1\), have been investigated to some extent. In this paper, similar boundary value problems of the form \[ (-1)^m u^{\Delta^{2m}}= f(t, u(\sigma(t))),\quad t\in [0, 1], \] \[ \alpha_{i+1} u^{\Delta^{2i}}(0)- \beta_{i+1} u^{\Delta^{2i+1}}(0)= 0= \gamma_{i+1} u^{\Delta^{2i}}(\sigma(1))+ \delta_{i+1} u^{\Delta^{2i+1}}(\sigma(1)),\quad 0\leq i\leq m+1, \] are studied, where \(\sigma(t)= \inf\{\tau\in T\mid\tau> t\}\) and \(u^\Delta(t)= (x(\sigma(t))- x(t))/(\sigma(t)- t)\), and the so-called measure chain \(T\) is a nonempty closed subset of \(\mathbb{R}\) containing \(0\) and \(1\). By means of Krasnosel'skii fixed point theorem and various properties of the Green's function associated to the corresponding homogeneous problem, existence of positive solutions are established under several standard assumptions on \(f\).