On existence of periodic solutions for Kepler type problems (Q526134)

The following singular periodic problem \[ u'' \pm \frac{u}{|u|^{q+1}} = \lambda h(t),\; u(0) = u(1),\; u'(0) = u'(1), \] where \(u : [0,1] \to \mathbb R^n\), \(q \geq 2\), \(\lambda > 0\) and \(h\) is continuous, is considered, using a reduction to a fixed point operator, which is nothing but the usual one made in a more general setting in coincidence degree theory. It is shown that in the repulsive case and \(n = 2\), if \(H'' = -h\) and \(r\) is the number of bounded connected components of \(\mathbb R^2 \setminus \mathrm{Im}H\), then the problem has at least \(r+1\) solutions for \(\lambda\) large. More precise results are obtained using the winding number. Further results are given for \(n = 3\) and \(n> 3\), and some examples are given.