Existence of solutions of third-order functional problems with nonlinear boundary conditions (Q4819904)

A differential equation of the form \[ \tfrac{d}{dt}\,\varphi((\mu\, u')')(t)=f(t,u),\;\;\;t_0\leq t\leq t_1, \] (where \(\varphi\) is an increasing homeomorphism of the real line, \(\mu>0\) and \(f\) may depend functionally on \(u\)), together with boundary conditions (b.c.) that may include functional dependence also, are considered. An adequate definition of (well ordered) lower and upper solutions is given. First, an existence result is given when the right-hand side is \(L^1\)-bounded and the b.c. have a dominant linear part (this is done via Schauder's fixed-point theorem). The main result follows: under reasonably general conditions, there exists a solution between a lower and an upper solution. The general case is reduced to the first one by truncation. The paper ends with some examples including a (4t-order) beam equation that is reduced to a 3rd-order problem where a nonlocal term appears.