Sturmian comparison theory for half‐linear and nonlinear differential equations via Picone identity

In this paper, Sturmian comparison theory is developed for the pair of second‐order differential equations; first of which is the nonlinear differential equations of the form (1) and the second is the half‐linear differential equations (2) where Φ_α (s ) = |s |^{α  ? 1}s and α ₁ > ? > α _m  > β  > α _{m  + 1} > ? > α _n  > 0. Under the assumption that the solution of  2 has two consecutive zeros, we obtain Sturm–Picone type and Leighton type comparison theorems for  1 by employing the new nonlinear version of Picone formula that we derive. Wirtinger type inequalities and several oscillation criteria are also attained for  1 . Examples are given to illustrate the relevance of the results. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.