Maximum principles and uniqueness results of phi-Laplacian boundary value problems (Q5952860)

In the first part of this paper, the authors study maximum and comparison principles for the operator \(A\) defined by \[ Au(t):=-\frac{d}{dt}\varphi(t,u'(t))-q(t,u(t),u'(t)), \quad t\in[t_0,t_1]. \] Assumptions are given so that if \(u-w\) attains a positive maximum and \(Au\leq Aw\) then \(u-w\) is constant. The main feature of the results is that they allow the functions \(\varphi\) and \(q\) to be discontinuous not only in \(t\) but also in \(u\). Comparison theorems are deduced for boundary value problems with periodic and separated boundary conditions. In the rest of the paper, these results are applied to study the uniqueness of solutions to the periodic and the separated boundary value problem. This includes both the Neumann and the Dirichlet problem. Simple examples and counter-examples are worked out.