Existence of positive solutions of mixed fractional integral boundary value problem with \(p(t)\)-Laplacian operator (Q6081945)

The existence of positive solutions to a mixed fractional boundary value problem comprising of the Caputo and Riemman-Liouville fractional derivatives involving a \(p(t)\)-Laplacian operator and subject to a fractional integral boundary conditions is studied. When \(p(t)\) is not constant, the Leray-Schauder fixed point theorem and monotone iterative method to obtain positive solutions to the problem are applied while, when \(p(t)\) is constant, the Guo-Krasnoselskii fixed point theorem is used to obtain positive solutions. The properties of the corresponding Green function are obtained by the authors. In order to prove the existence of positive solutions, the authors define a Banach space \(X\) and a cone, \(K \subset X\). An operator \(T: X \to X\) is also defined and shown to be completely continuous. In Theorem 1, the authors state and prove the condition for the existence of a solution to the \(p(t)\)-Laplacian fractional boundary value problem when \(p(t)\) is not constant. Theorem 2 states the conditions for the existence of minimal and maximal positive solutions \(\zeta^\ast\) and \(\eta^\ast\) respectively in a \((0,R]\), which are obtained using the monotone iterative method. Finally, in Theorem 3, the authors state conditions for the existence of positive solutions in a cone when \(p(t)\) is constant and used the Guo-Krasnoselskii fixed point theorem to prove this theorem. An example is also used to illustrate the result obtained.