On multiple positive solutions for singular fractional boundary value problems with Riemann-Stieltjes integrals (Q6099092)

The authors prove the existence of at least two positive solutions (\(u(t)>0\) for all \(t \in(0,1]\)) for the following nonlinear fractional differential equation with integral boundary value conditions: \[ \begin{cases}D_{0+}^\alpha u(t)+f(t, u(t))=0, & 0<t<1, \\ u(0)=u^{\prime}(0)=\cdots=u^{(n-2)}(0)=0, & D_{0+}^{\beta_0} u(1)=\sum_{i=1}^m \int_0^1 D_{0+}^{\beta_i} u(t) \mathrm{d} H_i(t),\end{cases} \] where \(\alpha \in \mathbb{R}, \alpha \in(n-1, n], n, m \in \mathbb{N}, n \geq 3, \beta_i \in \mathbb{R}\) for all \(i=0,1, \cdots, m\), \(0 \leq \beta_1<\beta_2<\cdots<\beta_m \leq \beta_0<\alpha-1\), \(\beta_0 \geq 1, f \in\) \(C((0,1) \times(0,+\infty),[0,+\infty)) \cdot D_{0+}^\mu\) represents the Riemann Liouville derivative of order \(\mu\) (for \(\mu=\alpha, \beta_0, \beta_1, \cdots, \beta_m\) ). The integrals involved in the boundary conditions are Riemann-Stieltjes integrals; here, \(H_i(i=1,2, \cdots, m)\) are functions of bounded variation. The proofs follow by using the expression and the constant sign properties of the related Green's function to the linear part of the equation. Such properties have been obtained in previous works in the literature. Thus, by imposing suitable assumptions on the growth and on the asymptotic behavior of the nonlinear part of the equation at \(u=0\) and \(+\infty\), that allow the function \(f\) to be singular at both \(t=0,1\) and \(u=0\). The authors construct a cone in which the existence of solutions is deduced by means of Krasnoselskii's fixed point theorem. An example is shown to point out the applicability of the obtained results.