An exact multiplicity theorem involving concave-convex nonlinearities and its application to stationary solutions of a singular diffusion problem (Q5937338)

The authors study the exact multiplicity of positive solutions to the boundary value problem \(u''(x)=f(x,u(x))\), \(u(-L)=u(L)=0\), where \(L>0\) is a parameter, \(f\in C^2(0,\infty)\cap C[0,\infty)\) satisfies (H1) \(f(u)>0\) for \(u\geq 0\), (H2) \(\lim_{u\to\infty} f(u)/u=m_\infty\) with \(0<m_\infty \leq\infty\), and (H3) there exists a constant \(C\geq 0\) such that \(f''(u)<0\) for \(0<u<C\) and \(f''(u)>0\) for \(u>C\). The authors apply the time map \(T(\alpha)= \int^\alpha_0 (F(\alpha)- F(u))^{-1/2}du\) to study the problem. Under one additional hypothesis on \(uf'(u)/f(u)\), they prove that \(\lim_{\alpha\to 0}T (\alpha)=0\), \(\lim_{\alpha \to\infty} T(\alpha):= L_\infty\geq 0\). Moreover, if set \(\widetilde L=\max_{\alpha \in(0,\infty)} T(\alpha)\) and let \(L_\infty>0\), then the problem has exactly two positive solutions for \(L_\infty <L<\widetilde L\), exactly one positive solution for \(0<L\leq L_\infty\) and \(L=\widetilde L\), and no positive solutions for \(L>\widetilde L\).