Existence of positive solutions for singular second-order \(m\)-point boundary value problems (Q705051)

The singular second-order \(m\)-point boundary value problem \[ \begin{gathered} (p(t)x'(t))'+ q(t) x(t)+ h(t) f(x(t))= 0,\quad 0< t< 1,\\ x(0)= 0,\;x(1)= \sum^{m-2}_{j=1} a_j x(\xi_j),\end{gathered}\tag{1} \] is considered, with \(p\in C^1[0,1]\), \(p> 0\), \(q\in C^0[0,1]\), \(q\leq 0\), \(h\in C^0(0,1)\cap L_1[0,1]\), \(h\geq 0\), \(f\in C^0(0,\infty)\), \(f\geq 0\), \(0< \xi_1<\cdots< \xi_{m-2}< 1\) and \(a_j> 0\). The existence of positive solutions of problem (1) is obtained by means of fixed-point index theory under some conditions concerning the first eigenvalue with respect to the relevant linear operators. The existence theorems generalize the results by \textit{R. Ma} and \textit{H. Wang} [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 279, 216--227 (2003; Zbl 1028.34014)] and \textit{R. Ma} [Acta Math. Sin. 46, No. 4, 785--794 (2003; Zbl 1056.34015)].