On variational methods for nonlinear difference equations (Q848555)

The authors are motivated by the paper of \textit{Y. Yang} and \textit{Z. Zhang} [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 340, No. 1, 658--668 (2008; Zbl 1195.47047)] and investigate the existence of a solution of the finite-dimensional variational problem \(Au=\lambda f(u)\), where \(A\in {\mathbb R}^{N\times N}\) is a positive definite matrix and \(f=(f_1,\dots,f_N)\) is a continuous function. Using critical point theory and a monotonicity argument applied to the functional \(J(u)=\lambda \sum_{k=1}^N \int_0^{u_k} f_k(s)\,ds- \frac{1}{2}(Au,u)\), various conditions on the function \(f\), the parameter \(\lambda\), and the eigenvalues of \(A\) are given which guarantee the existence of a solution of the problem under consideration.