Positive solutions to indefinite Neumann problems when the weight has positive average

DOI10.3934/DCDS.2016028MaRDI QIDQ321516zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Alberto Boscaggin, Maurizio Garrione

Publication date 14 October 2016

Published in Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1511.03584

indefinite weight Nemann problem shooting method

Nonlinear boundary value problems for ordinary differential equations (34B15) Positive solutions to nonlinear boundary value problems for ordinary differential equations (34B18)

Abstract: We deal with positive solutions for the Neumann boundary value problem associated with the scalar second order ODE

u" + q(t)g(u) = 0, quad t in [0, T],

where

g : [0, + i n f t y [, o m a t h b b R

is positive on

,] 0, + i n f t y [,

and

q (t)

is an indefinite weight. Complementary to previous investigations in the case

i n t_{0}^{T} q (t) < 0

, we provide existence results for a suitable class of weights having (small) positive mean, when

g^{'} (x) < 0

at infinity. Our proof relies on a shooting argument for a suitable equivalent planar system of the type

x' = y, qquad y' = h(x)y^2 + q(t),

with

h (x)

a continuous function defined on the whole real line.

Review text

The authors study the existence of positive solutions to the Neumann problem associated to the equation NEWLINENEWLINE\[NEWLINEu+q(t) g(u) =0, t\in [0,T],NEWLINE\]NEWLINE NEWLINEwhere \(q \in L^1(0,T)\) and \(g:[0,+\infty) \to\mathbb R\) is a \(C^1\)-function satisfying \(g(0)=0\) and \(g(u)>0\) for every \(u>0\). It is further assumed that there exists \(R>0\) such that \(g'(u)<0\) for every \(u>R\) and \(\lim_{u \to +\infty} g'(u)=0\); moreover, there exists \(r<0\) such that \(g'(u)>0\) for every \(0<u<r\) and \(\lim_{u \to + 0^+} g'(u)=0\). Finally, writing the weight \(q(t)=\lambda a^+(t)-\mu a^-(t)\) (\(\int_0^T a^+(t) dt, \int_0^T a^-(t) dt >0\)), it is required that there exists \(\tau\in [0,T]\) such that \(a(t) \geq 0\) for a.e. \(t \in [0,\tau]\) and \(a(t) \leq 0\) for a.e. \(t \in [\tau,T]\). In order to state the main result, define, for any \(\lambda\), NEWLINENEWLINE\[NEWLINE\mu_0(\lambda)= \dfrac{\lambda \int_0^T a^+(t) dt }{\int_0^T a^-(t) dt}.NEWLINE\]NEWLINE NEWLINEUnder the above assumptions, it is proved that for any \(\lambda >0\) there exist \(\mu_-(\lambda), \mu_+(\lambda) >0\), with \(\mu_-(\lambda)<\mu_0(\lambda)<\mu_+(\lambda)\) such that the given BVP has at least one positive solution for \(\mu=\mu_0(\lambda)\) and at least two positive solutions for any \(\mu \in ]\mu_-(\lambda),\mu_+(\lambda)[\) different from \(\mu_0(\lambda)\). Moreover, there is \(\lambda^*>0\) (depending only on \(g\) and \(a^+\)) such that for \(\lambda > \lambda^*\) it results \(\mu_+(\lambda)=+\infty\). The proof is performed using a dynamical argument relying on an elementary (but refined) shooting method. The paper contains several interesting comments on non-existence issues, on the role of the parameter \(\lambda\) and on the possibility of tackling the given problem with variational methods. Finally, some consequences of the main result are stated for increasing nonlinearities and for the study of the existence of periodic and radially symmetric solutions.

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