Variational techniques for a system of Sturm-Liouville equations (Q6098240)

The paper is concerned with the sixth order Sturm-Liouville problem \[ \begin{cases} -\left(p_i(x)u_i'''(x)\right)'''+\left(q_i(x)u_i''(x)\right)''-\left(r_i(x)u_i'(x)\right)'+s_i(x)u_i(x) =\lambda F_{u_i}(x,u_1,\dots,u_n)\\ \text{ for } 0<x<T,\\ u_i(0)=u_i(T)=u_i''(0)=u_i''(T)=u_i^{(iv)}(0)=u_i^{(iv)}(T)=0 \end{cases} \tag{1} \] for \(i=1,\dots,n\), where \(n\in \mathbb{N}\), \(T>0\), \(\lambda\) is a positive parameter, the functions \(p_i,q_i,r_i,s_i\in L^{\infty}([0,T])\) with \(p_i^-:=\mathrm{ess} \inf_{x\in [0,T]}p_i(x)>0\) and \[ \max\left\{-\frac{q_i^- T^2}{\pi^2},-\frac{q_i^- T^2}{\pi^2}-\frac{r_i^- T^4}{\pi^4},-\frac{q_i^- T^2}{\pi^2}-\frac{r_i^- T^4}{\pi^4}-\frac{s_i^- T^6}{\pi^6},\right\}<p_i^-, \] for any \(i=1,\dots,n\), the function \(F:[0,T]\times \mathbb{R}^n\to\mathbb{R}\) satisfies some assumptions, and \(F_{u_i}\) denotes the partial derivative of \(F\) with respect to \(u_i\) for \(i=1,\dots,n\). By using the critical point theory and variational methods, the author gives an interval for the parameter \(\lambda\) such that problem (1) has at least one nontrivial weak solution.