Positive solutions for nonlinear discrete second-order boundary value problems with parameter dependence (Q531866)

The paper deals with the existence, multiplicity and nonexistence of positive solutions for the difference equation \[ \begin{aligned} &-\Delta\left[ p\left( t-1\right) \Delta u\left( t-1\right) \right]\\ &+q\left( t\right) u\left( t\right) =\lambda f\left( t,u\left( t\right) \right) ,\;t\in\mathbb{Z},\text{ }1\leq t\leq T, \end{aligned} \] subject to the boundary conditions \[ \begin{aligned} & u\left( 0\right) =u\left( T\right) ,\text{ }p\left( 0\right) \Delta\\ & u\left( 0\right) =p\left( T\right) \Delta u\left( T\right) , \end{aligned} \] where function \(f\) is continuous in the second variable, \(p,q\) are positive functions, \(\lambda\) is a positive parameter, and \(\Delta u\left( t\right) =u\left( t+1\right) -u\left( t\right) .\) For some values of \(\lambda,\) the above boundary value problem admits at least two positive solutions, for other values of \(\lambda\) it has at least one positive solutions, and for other values of \(\lambda,\) the problem admits no positive solution. The proofs employ the fixed point index theory.