Multiplicity of positive solutions to semilinear elliptic boundary value problems (Q5934236)

The author studies the following semilinear elliptic boundary value problem \[ \begin{cases} Lu:=\bigl(-\Delta +c(x)\bigr)u= \lambda f(u)\quad &\text{in }\Omega,\\ Bu:= a(x){\partial u\over\partial n}+ \bigl(1-a(x) \bigr)u=0\quad &\text{on }\partial\Omega, \end{cases}\tag{1} \] where \(\Omega\) is a bounded domain. The paper mainly concerns with the case when \(f(t)\) is convex with respect to small \(t>0\) and sublinear. Under some natural conditions on \(c(x)\), \(a(x)\), and \(f\) the author characterizes the critical value given by the infimum of such parameters for which positive solutions exist. The author's approach is based on the topological degree theory on the positive cones of ordered Banach spaces and relies on super- and sub-solutions technique. The author provides also examples guaranteeing the applicability of his result.