Computing the location and the direction of bifurcation (Q812539)

The paper deals with the largely studied question of obtaining the exact multiplicity of positive solutions of the Dirichlet problem \[ u''(x) + \lambda f(u(x)) = 0, \quad\text{for }x \in (-1, 1) ,\quad u(-1) = u(1) = 0, \tag{1} \] depending on the parameter \(\lambda > 0\) and the exact bifurcation values of \(\lambda\), that is, the exact values of \(\lambda\) at which the number of solutions changes. The nonlinearity \(f\) is supposed to be of a type which generalizes the behaviour of the cubic function \(q(x) = (x - a)(x - b)(x - c)\) with \(0 < a < b < c\). In such a situation, it is known that each solution of (1) is an even decreasing function for \(x > 0\) and therefore, it can be identified by \(u(0) = \alpha\) and that all solutions of (1) can be depicted by curves in the plane \((\lambda, \alpha)\). In fact, the intersection of a particular \(\lambda_{0}\) with such curves gives us the exact number of solutions of (1) at such value of the parameter. Bifurcation diagrams give us exactly the values of \(\lambda\) at which this number changes (we say that a turn is produced in the bifurcation diagram). Here, the authors give a formula to compute all \(\alpha's\) where a turn may occur and another one to compute the direction of those turns, that is, the shape of the bifurcation diagrams. These formulas are applied to the cubic case, transforming (1) into \[ u''(x) + f(u(x))= 0, \quad\text{for }x \in (-1, 1),\quad u(-T) = u(T)= 0, \] with \(T = \sqrt{\lambda}\). The proof is based on proving previously that \(\frac{dT}{d\alpha}\) changes its sign exactly once on the upper curve obtained in the bifurcation diagram. This is equivalent to the fact that \(T(\alpha)\) has exactly one critical point. The proof is of computer assisted type. Some part of the paper is devoted to test the validity of the bifurcation diagrams obtained by computation in the case of having nondegenerate turning points which is a relevant condition in this problem. When the turning points are degenerate, the situation is more complicated. This is the case for the problem \[ u''(x) + \lambda e^{\frac{au(x)}{a + u(x)}}= 0,\quad\text{for }x \in (-1, 1),\quad u(-1) = u(1)=0, \] related to gas combustion which has been considered in the literature. The computations developed in the paper imply the proof of Wang's conjecture on the shape of the bifurcation diagram of this problem, see \textit{S.-H. Wang} [Nonlinear Anal., Theory Methods Appl. 22, No. 12, 1475--1485 (1994; Zbl 0803.34013)].