Boundary blow-up for differential equations with indefinite weight

We obtain results of existence and multiplicity of solutions for the second-order equation x″+q(t)g(x)=0, with x(t) defined for all t∈]0,1[ and such that x(t)→+∞ as t→0⁺ and t→1⁻. We assume g having superlinear growth at infinity and q(t) possibly changing sign on [0,1].     

Standing waves for supercritical nonlinear Schrödinger equations

Let V(x) be a non-negative, bounded potential in RN, N?3 and p supercritical, . We look for positive solutions of the standing-wave nonlinear Schrödinger equation Δu−V(x)u+up=0 in RN, with u(x)→0 as |x|→+∞. We prove that if V(x)=o(⁻²|x|) as |x|→+∞, then for N?4 and this problem admits a continuum of solutions. If in addition we have, for instance, V(x)=O(|x|^−μ) with μ>N, then this result still holds provided that N?3 and . Other conditions for solvability, involving behavior of V at ∞, are also provided.     

Positive solutions for some Schrödinger equations having partially periodic potentials

This paper is concerned with the problem of finding positive solutions of the equation −Δu+(a_∞+a(x))u=|u|^q−2u, where q is subcritical, Ω is either RN or an unbounded domain which is periodic in the first p coordinates and whose complement is contained in a cylinder , a_∞>0, a∈C(RN,R) is periodic in the first p coordinates, infx∈RN(a_∞+a(x))>0 and a(x^′,x^″)→0 as |x^″|→∞ uniformly in x^′. The cases a?0 and a?0 are considered and it is shown that, under appropriate assumptions on a, the problem has one solution in the first case and p+1 solutions in the second case when p?N−2.     

A Liapunov functional for a singular integral equation

We consider a scalar integral equation where a∈L²[0,∞), while C(t,s) has a significant singularity, but is convex when t−s>0. We construct a Liapunov functional and show that g(t,x(t))−a(t)∈L²[0,∞) and that x(t)−a(t)→0 pointwise as t→∞. Small perturbations are also added to the kernel. In addition, we consider both infinite and finite delay problems. This paper offers a first step toward treating discontinuous kernels with Liapunov functionals.     

Remarks on a paper of C. Huang

We prove oscillation and nonoscillation theorems for the second order linear differential equation (E) y″+q(t)y=0, where q(t)?0 and locally integrable on These results are extensions of earlier results of Huang [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 210 (1997) 712-723]. Furthermore, we show that the oscillation criterion established for Eq. (E) can be extended to the delayed differential equation y″+q(t)y(σ(t))=0, where σ(t)?t and lim_t→∞σ(t)=∞.     

A generalization of the Strassen converse

This note is devoted to a generalization of the Strassen converse. Let gn:R^∞→[0,∞], n?1 be a sequence of measurable functions such that, for every n?1, and for all x,y∈R^∞, where 0<C<∞ is a constant which is independent of n. Let be a sequence of i.i.d. random variables. Assume that there exist r?1 and a function ?:[0,∞)→[0,∞) with limt→∞?(t)=∞, depending only on the sequence such that lim supn→∞gn(X₁,X₂,…)=?(Er|X|) a.s. whenever Er|X|<∞ and EX=0. We prove the converse result, namely that lim supn→∞gn(X₁,X₂,…)<∞ a.s. implies Er|X|<∞ (and EX=0 if, in addition, lim supn→∞gn(c,c,…)=∞ for all c≠0). Some applications are provided to illustrate this result.     

Endpoints of set-valued contractions in metric spaces

Suppose (X,d) be a complete metric space, and suppose F:X→CB(X) be a set-valued map satisfies H(Fx,Fy)≤ψ(d(x,y)), , where ψ:[0,∞)→[0,∞) is upper semicontinuous, ψ(t)<t for each t>0 and satisfies lim inf_t→∞(t−ψ(t))>0. Then F has a unique endpoint if and only if F has the approximate endpoint property.     

Existence of fast positive wavefronts for a non-local delayed reaction-diffusion equation

We establish the existence of a continuous family of fast positive wavefronts u(t,x)=?(x+ct), ?(−∞)=0, ?(+∞)=κ, for the non-local delayed reaction-diffusion equation . Here 0 and κ>0 are fixed points of g∈C²(R₊,R₊) and the non-negative K is such that is finite for every real λ. We also prove that the fast wavefronts are non-monotone if .     

An elliptic system with bifurcation parameters on the boundary conditions

In this paper we consider the elliptic system Δu=a(x)upvq, Δv=b(x)urvs in Ω, a smooth bounded domain, with boundary conditions , on ∂Ω. Here λ and μ are regarded as parameters and p,s>1, q,r>0 verify (p−1)(s−1)>qr. We consider the case where a(x)?0 in Ω and a(x) is allowed to vanish in an interior subdomain Ω₀, while b(x)>0 in . Our main results include existence of nonnegative nontrivial solutions in the range 0<λ<λ₁?∞, μ>0, where λ₁ is characterized by means of an eigenvalue problem, and the uniqueness of such solutions. We also study their asymptotic behavior in all possible cases: as both λ,μ→0, as λ→λ₁<∞ for fixed μ (respectively μ→∞ for fixed λ) and when both λ,μ→∞ in case λ₁=∞.     

Positive solutions of the nonlinear fourth-order beam equation with three parameters

This paper is concerned with the existence and nonexistence of positive solutions of the nonlinear fourth-order beam equation u(4)(t)+ηu^″(t)−ζu(t)=λf(t,u(t)), 0<t<1, u(0)=u(1)=u^″(0)=u^″(1)=0, where is continuous and ζ, η and λ are parameters. We show that there exists a such that the above boundary value problem (BVP) has at least two, one and no positive solutions for 0<λ<λ^*, λ=λ^* and λ>λ^*, respectively. Furthermore, by using the semiorder method on cones of Banach space, we establish a uniqueness criterion for positive solution of the BVP. In particular such a positive solution uλ(t) of the BVP depends continuously on the parameter λ, i.e., uλ(t) is nondecreasing in λ, limλ→⁰⁺‖uλ(t)‖=0 and limλ→+∞‖uλ(t)‖=+∞ for any t∈[0,1].     

Self-similar singular solutions of a p-Laplacian evolution equation with absorption

We consider, for p∈(1,2) and q>1, self-similar singular solutions of the equation v_t=div(|∇v|^p−2∇v)−v^q in Rn×(0,∞); here by self-similar we mean that v takes the form v(x,t)=t^−αw(|x|t^−αβ) for α=1/(q−1) and β=(q+1−p)/p, whereas singular means that v is non-negative, non-trivial, and for all x≠0. That is, we consider the ODE problem

(0.1)     

Interval criteria for oscillation of second-order half-linear differential equations

By employing a generalized Riccati technique and an integral averaging method, interval oscillation criteria are established for the second-order half-linear differential equation [r(t)|x′(t)|^α−1x′(t)]′+q(t)|x(t)|^α−1x(t)=0. These criteria are different from most known ones in the sense that they are based on information only on a sequence of subintervals of [t₀,∞), rather than on the whole half-line. They also extend, improve, and complement a number of existing results, and can be applied to extreme cases such as . In particular, several interesting examples that illustrate the importance of our results are included.     

Zeros of a random algebraic polynomial with coefficient means in geometric progression

This paper provides the mathematical expectation for the number of real zeros of an algebraic polynomial with non-identical random coefficients. We assume that the coefficients {a_j}ⁿ⁻¹_j=0 of the polynomial T(x)=a₀+a₁x+a₂x²+?+a_n−1xⁿ⁻¹ are normally distributed, with mean E(a_j)=μ^j+1, where μ≠0, and constant non-zero variance. It is shown that the behaviour of the random polynomial is independent of the variance on the interval (−1,1); it differs, however, for the cases of |μ|<1 and |μ|>1. On the intervals (−∞,−1) and (1,∞) we find the expected number of real zeros is governed by an interesting relationship between the means of the coefficients and their common variance. Our result is consistent with those of previous works for identically distributed coefficients, in that the expected number of real zeros for μ≠0 is half of that for μ=0.     

Complete quenching for singular parabolic problems

We prove finite time extinction of the solution of the equation ut−Δu+χ{u>0}(u−β−λf(u))=0 in Ω×(0,∞) with boundary data u(x,t)=0 on ∂Ω×(0,∞) and initial condition u(x,0)=u₀(x) in Ω, where Ω⊂RN is a bounded smooth domain, 0<β<1 and λ>0 is a parameter. For every small enough λ>0 there exists a time t₀>0 such that the solution is identically equal to zero.     

Periodic solutions of a nonlinear second-order differential equation with deviating argument

With the help of the coincidence degree continuation theorem, the existence of periodic solutions of a nonlinear second-order differential equation with deviating argument

x^″(t)+f₁(x(t))x^′(t)+f₂(x(t))(x^′(t)⁾²+g(x(t−τ(t)))=0,     

Solutions of the Cheeger problem via torsion functions

The Cheeger problem for a bounded domain Ω⊂RN, N>1 consists in minimizing the quotients |∂E|/|E| among all smooth subdomains E⊂Ω and the Cheeger constant h(Ω) is the minimum of these quotients. Let be the p-torsion function, that is, the solution of torsional creep problem −Δp?p=1 in Ω, ?p=0 on ∂Ω, where Δpu:=div(|∇u|^p−2∇u) is the p-Laplacian operator, p>1. The paper emphasizes the connection between these problems. We prove that . Moreover, we deduce the relation limp→¹⁺‖?p_‖L¹(Ω)?CNlimp→¹⁺‖?p_‖L^∞(Ω) where CN is a constant depending only of N and h(Ω), explicitely given in the paper. An eigenfunction u∈BV(Ω)∩L^∞(Ω) of the Dirichlet 1-Laplacian is obtained as the strong L¹ limit, as p→¹⁺, of a subsequence of the family {?p/‖?p_‖L¹(Ω)}_p>1. Almost all t-level sets Et of u are Cheeger sets and our estimates of u on the Cheeger set |E₀| yield |B₁|hN(B₁)?|E₀|hN(Ω), where B₁ is the unit ball in RN. For Ω convex we obtain u=|E₀|⁻¹χE₀.     

Dynamical systems method (DSM) for selfadjoint operators

Let A be a selfadjoint linear operator in a Hilbert space H. The DSM (dynamical systems method) for solving equation Av=f consists of solving the Cauchy problem , u(0)=u₀, where Φ is a suitable operator, and proving that (i) ∃u(t)∀t>0, (ii) ∃u(∞), and (iii) A(u(∞))=f. It is proved that if equation Av=f is solvable and u solves the problem , u(0)=u₀, where a>0 is a parameter and u₀ is arbitrary, then lima→0limt→∞u(t,a)=y, where y is the unique minimal-norm solution of the equation Av=f. Stable solution of the equation Av=f is constructed when the data are noisy, i.e., fδ is given in place of f, ‖fδ−f‖?δ. The case when a=a(t)>0, , a(t)↘0 as t→∞ is considered. It is proved that in this case limt→∞u(t)=y and if fδ is given in place of f, then limt→∞u(tδ)=y, where tδ is properly chosen.