An extension of the Poincaré-Birkhoff theorem coupling twist with lower and upper solutions (Q6177094)

The present article extends previous results in [\textit{A. Fonda} and \textit{P. Gidoni}, J Differ Equ 262, 2, 1064--1084 (2017; Zbl 1369.37064); Nonlinear Differ. Equ. Appl. NODEA 27, 6, 55 (2020; Zbl 1454.37057); \textit{A. Fonda} and \textit{A. J. Ureña}, Ann. Inst. Henri Poincare (C) Anal. Non Lineaire 34, 3, 679--698 (2017; Zbl 1442.37076)] regarding the existence of periodic orbits to Hamiltonian systems that have, in addition to the periodicity-twist condition required in the previous results, a pair of well-ordered upper and lower solutions. The standard technique involving lower and upper solutions is roughly as follows: modify the problem below the lower solution and above the upper solution in order to get a solution of the modified problem and prove, using an \textit{a priori bound lemma}, that this solution is also a solution of the original problem. In this article, the previous modification has the additional constraint of preserving the Hamiltonian structure of the problem. This is solved by cleverly modifying the Hamiltonian function while preserving the differentiability of the new function. Once this modification is achieved, the results in [\textit{A. Fonda} and \textit{P. Gidoni}, Nonlinear Differ. Equ. Appl. NODEA 27, 6, 55 (2020; Zbl 1454.37057)] provide the various geometrically distinct solutions established in the main theorem of the paper and an \textit{a priori bound lemma} shows that these are solutions corresponding to the original Hamiltonian system. However, for this the authors require that the lower and upper solutions be constant. The authors conjecture that this hypothesis is not necessary and it is an open problem whether it can be dispensed with. Many applications are shown, in particular one relates to periodic perturbations of completely integrable systems. The article is well written and the exposition follows a progressively increasing complexity starting from particular cases and ending in the most general scenario.