Electronic Journal of Differential Equations, Vol. 2009(2009), No. 110, pp. 1–12. ISSN: 1072-6691. URL: http://ejde.math.txstate.edu or http://ejde.math.unt.edu ftp ejde.math.txstate.edu POSITIVE SOLUTIONS FOR NONLINEAR SECOND-ORDER m-POINT BOUNDARY-VALUE PROBLEMS JIQIANG JIANG, LISHAN LIU Abstract. By constructing a special cone and applying the fixed index theory in the cone, we prove the existence of positive solutions for a class of singular m-point boundary-value problems. 1. Introduction This paper considers the existence of positive solutions for the second-order mpoint boundary-value problem (p(t)x0 (t))0 − q(t)x(t) + f (t, x(t)) = 0, ax(0) − bp(0)x0 (0) = m−2 X αi x(ξi ), t ∈ (0, 1), cx(1) + dp(1)x0 (1) = m−2 X βi x(ξi ), (1.1) (1.2) i=1 i=1 where a, c ∈ [0, +∞), b, d ∈ (0, +∞) with ac + ad + bc > 0, ξi ∈ (0, 1), αi , βi ∈ [0, +∞) for i ∈ {1, 2, . . . , m − 2} are given constants, p ∈ C 1 ([0, 1], (0, +∞)), q ∈ C([0, 1], (0, +∞)) and f ∈ C((0, 1) × (0, +∞), [0, +∞)), f (t, x) is allowed to be singular at t = 0, t = 1 and x = 0. If p ≡ 1, q ≡ 0, αi , βi = 0, (for i = 1, 2, . . . , m − 2), then (1.1)-(1.2) reduces to the two-point boundary-value problem x00 (t) + f (t, x(t)) = 0, 0 ax(0) − bx (0) = 0, t ∈ (0, 1), (1.3) 0 (1.4) cx(1) + dx (1) = 0, which has been intensively studied; see [5, 6]. In [7], by using the fixed index theory in a cone, positive solutions were obtained for differential systems −x00 (t) = f (t, y), 00 −y (t) = g(t, x), t ∈ (0, 1), t ∈ (0, 1), 0 α1 x(0) − β1 x (0) = γ1 x(1) + δ1 x0 (1) = 0, 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 34B15, 34B25. Key words and phrases. Positive solution; singular; m-point boundary-value problem; cones. c 2009 Texas State University - San Marcos. Submitted December 26, 2008. Published September 10, 2009. Supported by grants: 10771117 from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 20060446001 from the State Ministry of Education Doctoral Foundation of China, and Y2007A23 from the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province of China. 1 2 J. JIANG, L. LIU EJDE-2009/110 α2 y(0) − β2 y 0 (0) = γ2 y(1) + δ2 y 0 (1) = 0, where αi , βi , γi , δi ≥ 0 and ρi = αi γi + αi γi + γi βi > 0 (i = 1, 2), f (t, y) and g(t, x) may be singular at t = 0, t = 1 and x = 0, y = 0, respectively. In recent years, singular multi-point boundary-value problems have been extensively studied and many optimal results have been obtained, see [6, 11, 12, 13, 14] and references therein. In addition, many papers investigated the existence of solutions for the nonsingular multi-point boundary-value problems, for example, [1, 4, 5, 10]. Recently, Ma [8], Ma and Thompson [9] obtained excellent results about the existence of positive solutions for the more general m-point boundary-value problem (1.1)-(1.2), but in the above papers there are no studies for singularity of the nonlinearity f (t, x) at the point x = 0. Recently, by using Nonlinear Alternative of Leray-Schauder with the properties of the associated vector field at the (u, u0 ) plane, Galanis and Palamides [2] studied the problem −[φp (u0 )]0 = q(t)f (t, u(t)), 0<t<1 subject to u(0) − g(u0 (0)) = 0, u(1) − βu(η) = 0, or to u(0) − αu0 (η) = 0, u(1) + g(u0 (1)) = 0, where f (t, u) is allowed to have singularity at u = 0, the obtained solutions remains away from the origin and avoid the singularity of the nonlinear term at u = 0. Motivated by the above mentioned papers, we consider the existence of positive solutions for (1.1)-(1.2). Here we allow f (t, x) to have a singularity at t = 0, 1, and at x = 0. As far as we know, there were only a few works when f has singularities at t = 0, 1 and x = 0. This paper attempts to fill part of this gap in the literature. This work is organized as follows. In section 2, we present some lemmas that are used to prove our main results. Then in section 3, the existence of positive solution for (1.1)-(1.2) will be established by using the fixed point theory in the cone, which we state here for the convenience of the reader. Lemma 1.1 ([3]). Let P be a cone of the real Banach space E, Ω be a bounded open subset of E with θ ∈ Ω and T : Ω ∩ P → P is a completely continuous. Suppose that T u 6= λu, for all u ∈ ∂Ω ∩ P , λ ≥ 1, then i(T, Ω ∩ P, P ) = 1. Lemma 1.2 ([3]). Let P be a cone of the real Banach space E, Ω be a bounded open subset of E with θ ∈ Ω and T : Ω ∩ P → P is a completely continuous. Suppose that (i) inf u∈P ∩∂Ω kT uk > 0 (ii) T u 6= λu, for all u ∈ ∂Ω ∩ P , λ ∈ (0, 1], then i(T, Ω ∩ P, P ) = 0. 2. Preliminaries Let E = C[0, 1] be a real Banach space, with the norm kxk = maxt∈[0,1] |x(t)| for x ∈ C[0, 1]. Let P = {x ∈ E : x(t) ≥ 0, t ∈ [0, 1]}. Clearly P is a cone in E. The function x is said to be a positive solution of (1.1)-(1.2) if x(t) is positive solution on (0, 1) and satisfies the differential equation (1.1) and the boundary conditions (1.2). The following lemmas play an important role when proving our main results. EJDE-2009/110 POSITIVE SOLUTIONS 3 Lemma 2.1 ([8, 9]). Assume (H1) p ∈ C 1 ([0, 1], (0, +∞)), q ∈ C([0, 1], (0, +∞)). Let ψ and φ be the solutions of the linear problems (p(t)ψ 0 (t))0 (t) − q(t)ψ(t) = 0, ψ(0) = b, t ∈ (0, 1), (2.1) 0 p(0)ψ (0) = a, (2.2) and (p(t)φ0 (t))0 (t) − q(t)φ(t) = 0, φ(1) = d, t ∈ (0, 1), (2.3) 0 p(1)φ (1) = −c, (2.4) respectively. Then (i) ψ is strictly increasing on [0, 1], and ψ(t) > 0 on [0, 1]; (ii) φ is strictly decreasing on [0, 1], and φ(t) > 0 on [0, 1]. As in [9], set Pm−2 Pm−2 − i=1 αi ψ(ξi ) ρ − i=1 αi φ(ξi ) Pm−2 Pm−2 ∆ = det , ρ − i=1 βi ψ(ξi ) − i=1 βi φ(ξi ) ρ = p(t) det φ(t) ψ(t) . φ0 (t) ψ 0 (t) Then, by Liouville’s formula, we have φ(0) ψ(0) ρ = p(0) det 0 = constant. φ (0) ψ 0 (0) Define 1 G(t, s) = ρ ( φ(t)ψ(s), 0 ≤ s ≤ t ≤ 1, φ(s)ψ(t), 0 ≤ t ≤ s ≤ 1. (2.5) It is easy to see that 0 ≤ G(t, s) ≤ G(s, s), 0 ≤ s, t ≤ 1. (2.6) Remark 2.2. By (2.5) and Lemma 2.1, for any t ∈ [0, 1], we have ( φ(t) ( d 0 ≤ s ≤ t ≤ 1, 0 ≤ s ≤ t ≤ 1, G(t, s) φ(s) , φ(0) , = ψ(t) ≥ b G(s, s) , 0 ≤ t ≤ s ≤ 1. , 0 ≤ t ≤ s ≤ 1, ψ(1) ψ(s) b ψ(1) }, d , Let γ = min{ φ(0) then G(t, s) ≥ γG(s, s), for t, s ∈ [0, 1]. d b Remark 2.3. Since γ = min{ φ(0) , ψ(1) }, according to the monotonicity of ψ(t), we have γ ≤ b ψ(1) = ψ(0) ψ(1) ≤ ψ(t) ψ(1) , monotonicity of φ(t), we have γ ≤ so ψ(t) ≥ γψ(1), for t ∈ [0, 1]. Similarly, by the d φ(0) = φ(1) φ(0) ≤ φ(t) φ(0) , so φ(t) ≥ γφ(0), for t ∈ [0, 1]. Lemma 2.4 ([8, 9]). Assume (H1) and that ∆ 6= 0. Then for any y ∈ L[0, 1], the problem (p(t)x0 (t))0 (t) − q(t)x(t) + y(t) = 0, ax(0) − bp(0)x0 (0) = m−2 X i=1 αi x(ξi ), t ∈ (0, 1), cx(1) + dp(1)x0 (1) = m−2 X (2.7) βi x(ξi ), (2.8) i=1 has a unique solution Z 1 G(t, s)y(s)ds + A(y)ψ(t) + B(y)φ(t), x(t) = 0 (2.9) 4 J. JIANG, L. LIU EJDE-2009/110 where ! Pm−2 R 1 Pm−2 1 αi 0 G(ξi , s)y(s)ds ρ − i=1 αi φ(ξi ) i=1 A(y) = det Pm−2 R 1 Pm−2 ∆ − i=1 βi φ(ξi ) i=1 βi 0 G(ξi , s)y(s)ds ! Pm−2 Pm−2 R 1 1 − i=1 αi ψ(ξi ) α G(ξ , s)y(s)ds i i R 01 B(y) = det . Pm−2 Pi=1 m−2 ∆ ρ − i=1 βi ψ(ξi ) i=1 βi 0 G(ξi , s)y(s)ds (2.10) (2.11) Lemma 2.5 ([8, 9]). Assume (H1) and Pm−2 Pm−2 (H2) ∆ < 0, ρ − i=1 αi φ(ξi ) > 0, ρ − i=1 βi ψ(ξi ) > 0. Then for y ∈ L[0, 1] with y ≥ 0, the unique solution x of (2.7)-(2.8) satisfies x(t) ≥ 0, for t ∈ [0, 1]. Let Q = {x ∈ P : x(t) ≥ γkxk}. It is obvious that Q is a subcone of P . With Lemma 2.4, Problem (1.1)-(1.2) has a positive solution x = x(t) if and only if x ∈ Q\{θ} is a solution of the nonlinear integral equation Z 1 x(t) = G(t, s)f (s, x(s))ds + A(f (s, x(s)))ψ(t) + B(f (s, x(s)))φ(t), (2.12) 0 where f satisfies the condition (H3) f ∈ C((0, 1) × (0, +∞), [0, +∞)) and there exist h ∈ C((0, 1), [0, +∞)), g ∈ C((0, +∞), [0, +∞)) satisfying that for any t ∈ (0, 1), u ∈ (0, +∞) implies f (t, u) ≤ h(t)g(u), t ∈ (0, 1), u ∈ (0, +∞), Z 1 0< G(s, s)h(s)ds < +∞. 0 Define an operator T : Q\{θ} → P by Z 1 (T x)(t) = G(t, s)f (s, x(s))ds + A(f (s, x(s)))ψ(t) + B(f (s, x(s)))φ(t). (2.13) 0 It is easy to prove that the existence of solutions to (1.1)-(1.2) is equivalent to the existence of solutions to (2.12). That is, the existence of a fixed point of operator T. To overcome the singularity, we consider the following approximating equation of (2.13) with the boundary conditions (1.2). Z 1 (Tn x)(t) = G(t, s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(t) + B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(t), 0 (2.14) where n is a positive integer and 1 fn (t, x) = f (t, max{ , x}). n (2.15) Remark 2.6. By (H3), there exists τ ∈ (0, 21 ) such that Z 1−τ 0< G(s, s)h(s)ds < +∞. τ Lemma 2.7. Assume (H1)-(H3). Then Tn : P → P is completely continuous for any fixed natural number n. EJDE-2009/110 POSITIVE SOLUTIONS 5 Proof. First it is easy to see that Tn maps P into P . Then we prove that Tn maps bounded sets into bounded sets. Suppose D ⊂ P is an arbitrary bounded set. Then there exists a constant M1 > 0 such that kxk ≤ M1 for any x ∈ D. By (H1), for any x ∈ D and s ∈ [0, 1], we have Z 1 G(t, s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(t) + B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(t) |(Tn x)(t)| = 0 Z 1 1 G(s, s)h(s)g max{ , x(s)} ds n 0 1 + A h(s)g max{ , x(s)} ψ(1) n 1 + B h(s)g max{ , x(s)} φ(0) n hZ 1 i ≤ M2 G(s, s)h(s)ds + A (h(s)) ψ(1) + B (h(s)) φ(0) ≤ 0 Z ≤ M2 (1 + Aψ(1) + Bφ(0)) 1 G(s, s)h(s)ds, 0 where M2 = supx∈[ n1 , n1 +M1 ] g(x), Pm−2 Pm−2 1 αi ρ − i=1 αi φ(ξi ) P A= det Pi=1 , m−2 m−2 ∆ − i=1 βi φ(ξi ) i=1 βi Pm−2 Pm−2 1 − i=1 αi ψ(ξi ) αi Pm−2 Pi=1 det B= . m−2 ∆ ρ − i=1 βi ψ(ξi ) i=1 βi (2.16) (2.17) Therefore, Tn (D) is uniformly bounded. Now we show that Tn (D) is equicontinuous on [0, 1]. For any ε > 0, since G(t, s), ψ(t) and φ(t) are uniformly continuous on [0, 1]×[0, 1] and [0, 1], respectively. There exists δ > 0 such that for any t1 , t2 ∈ [0, 1], |t1 − t2 | < δ implies that ε min0≤s≤1 G(s, s) , R1 3M2 0 G(s, s)h(s)ds ε , |ψ(t1 ) − ψ(t2 )| < R1 3M2 A 0 G(s, s)h(s)ds ε |φ(t1 ) − φ(t2 )| < . R1 3M2 B 0 G(s, s)h(s)ds |G(t1 , s) − G(t2 , s)| < Consequently, for any x ∈ D, t1 , t2 ∈ [0, 1], |t1 − t2 | < δ, we have |Tn x(t1 ) − Tn x(t2 )| Z 1 ≤ |G(t1 , s) − G(t2 , s)|fn (s, x(s))ds 0 + A(fn (s, x(s)))|ψ(t1 ) − ψ(t2 )| + B(fn (s, x(s)))|φ(t1 ) − φ(t2 )| Z 1 1 |G(t1 , s) − G(t2 , s)|h(s)g max{ , x(s)} ds ≤ n 0 1 + A h(s)g max{ , x(s)} |ψ(t1 ) − ψ(t2 )| n 6 J. JIANG, L. LIU EJDE-2009/110 1 + B h(s)g max{ , x(s)} |φ(t1 ) − φ(t2 )| n Z 1 ≤ M2 |G(t1 , s) − G(t2 , s)|h(s)ds 0 + A(h(s)M2 )|ψ(t1 ) − ψ(t2 )| + B(h(s)M2 )|φ(t1 ) − φ(t2 )| Z 1 ≤ M2 |G(t1 , s) − G(t2 , s)|h(s)ds 0 Z 1 + M2 A|ψ(t1 ) − ψ(t2 )| G(s, s)h(s)ds Z 0 1 + M2 B|φ(t1 ) − φ(t2 )| G(s, s)h(s)ds 0 ε ε ε + + = ε. 3 3 3 Thus, Tn (D) is equicontinuous on [0, 1]. According to Ascoli-Arzela Theorem, Tn (D) is a relatively compact set. In the end, we show Tn is continuous. Suppose xm , x ∈ D, xm → x (m → +∞). Then there exists a constant M3 > 0 such that kxk ≤ M3 , kxm k ≤ M3 (m = 1, 2, . . . ). Since fn (t, x) is uniformly continuous on [0, 1] × D for any fixed natural number n, hence, < lim fn (t, xm (t)) = fn (t, x(t)), m→+∞ uniformly on t ∈ [0, 1]. According to the Lebesgue dominated convergence theorem, Z 1 lim G(s, s)|fn (s, xm (s)) − fn (s, x(s))|ds = 0. m→+∞ 0 Thus for the above ε > 0, there exists a natural number M , such that m > M implies that Z 1 ε . (2.18) G(s, s)|fn (s, xm (s)) − fn (s, x(s))|ds < 1 + Aψ(1) + Bφ(0) 0 From (2.18), we obtain that for m > M , kTn um − Tn uk hZ 1 = max G(t, s)fn (s, xm (s))ds + A(fn (s, xm (s)))ψ(t) + B(fn (s, xm (s)))φ(t) 0≤t≤1 Z − 1 0 i G(t, s)fn (s, x(s))ds − A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(t) − B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(t) 0 Z ≤ 1 G(s, s)|fn (s, xm (s)) − fn (s, x(s))|ds + A |fn (s, xm (s)) − fn (s, x(s))| ψ(1) 0 + B(|fn (s, xm (s)) − fn (s, x(s))|)φ(0) Z 1 ≤ 1 + Aψ(1) + Bφ(0) G(s, s)|fn (s, xm (s)) − fn (s, x(s))|ds < ε. 0 Therefore, Tn : P → P is continuous. Thus Tn : P → P is a completely continuous operator. EJDE-2009/110 POSITIVE SOLUTIONS 7 Lemma 2.8. Tn (Q) ⊂ Q. Proof. For any x ∈ Q, (H2) and (H3) imply (Tn x)(t) ≥ 0. From (2.6), (2.14) and the monotonicity of ψ(t) and φ(t), we have 1 Z (Tn x)(t) ≤ G(s, s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(1) + B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(0), 0 which implies 1 Z kTn xk ≤ G(s, s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(1) + B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(0). (2.19) 0 By Remarks 2.2 and 2.3, we have 1 Z (Tn x)(t) = G(t, s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(t) + B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(t) 0 Z 1 ≥γ G(s, s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))γψ(1) + B(fn (s, x(s)))γφ(0) 0 ≥γ hZ 1 i G(s, s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(1) + B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(0) . 0 (2.20) Then, (2.19) and (2.20) yield (Tn x)(t) ≥ γkTn xk. Hence Tn x ∈ Q. 3. Main results In this section, we present our main results as follows. Theorem 3.1. Suppose that (H1)–(H3) hold and there exist numbers R > 0 and L > 0 such that Z 1 R , (3.1) G(s, s)h(s)ds < f M (1 + Aψ(1) + Bφ(0)) 0 Z 1−τ f (t, x) Lγ 2 G(s, s)ds > 1, lim inf min > L. (3.2) x→+∞ τ ≤t≤1−τ x τ f = maxu∈[γR,1+R] g(u), Then (1.1)-(1.2) has at least one positive solution, where M γ is defined in Remark 2.2 and A, B are defined by (2.16) and (2.17), respectively. Proof. Firstly, we shall prove that when n is sufficiently large, we have Tn x 6= λx, x ∈ ∂QR , λ ≥ 1, (3.3) where QR = {x ∈ Q : kxk < R} for R > 0. In fact, if there exists x0 ∈ ∂QR , and λ0 ≥ 1 such that λ0 x0 = Tn x0 , then x0 (t) ≤ Tn x0 (t) for t ∈ [0, 1] and any n. 8 J. JIANG, L. LIU EJDE-2009/110 Choose a sufficiently large n satisfying n > 1 γR . Then we have x0 (t) ≤ (Tn x0 )(t) Z 1 = G(t, s)fn (s, x0 (s))ds + A(fn (s, x0 (s)))ψ(t) + B(fn (s, x0 (s)))φ(t) 0 1 Z ≤ G(s, s)fn (s, x0 (s))ds + A(fn (s, x0 (s)))ψ(1) + B(fn (s, x0 (s)))φ(0) 0 Z 1 ≤ (1 + Aψ(1) + Bφ(0)) G(s, s)fn (s, x0 (s))ds 0 Z 1 1 G(s, s)h(s)g max{ , x0 (s)} ds n 0 Z 1 f G(s, s)h(s)ds < R. ≤ (1 + Aψ(1) + Bφ(0))M ≤ (1 + Aψ(1) + Bφ(0)) 0 (3.4) Therefore, by (3.4) we have kx0 k < R, which is a contradiction to x0 ∈ ∂QR . So applying Lemma 1.1, i(Tn , QR , Q) = 1. Next, according to (3.2), there exists R1 such that x > R1 implies f (t, x) > Lx, t ∈ [τ, 1 − τ ]. (3.5) Choose R0 > {R, γ −1 R1 }. When n being sufficiently large we can claim that Tn x 6= λx, ∀x ∈ ∂QR0 , λ ∈ (0, 1], (3.6) where Q0R = {x ∈ Q : kxk < R0 }. Suppose (3.6) is not true, then there exist x1 ∈ ∂QR0 and λ0 ∈ (0, 1] such that λ0 x1 = Tn x1 . Similarly, we choose sufficiently 1 large n satisfying that n > γR 0 . Therefore, by (3.5) we have x1 (t) ≥ (Tn x1 )(t) Z 1 = G(t, s)fn (s, x1 (s))ds + A(fn (s, x1 (s)))ψ(t) + B(fn (s, x1 (s)))φ(t) 0 1 Z ≥ G(t, s)fn (s, x1 (s))ds 0 1−τ Z ≥γ G(s, s)fn (s, x1 (s))ds τ Z 1−τ ≥ Lγ G(s, s)x1 (s)ds τ 0 2 Z ≥ LR γ 1−τ G(s, s)ds. τ This is a contradiction to x1 ∈ ∂QR0 . Consequently, (3.6) holds. Furthermore, for each x ∈ ∂QR , Z 1 kTn xk ≥ G(t, s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(t) + B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(t) 0 Z ≥ 1 G(t, s)fn (s, x(s))ds 0 EJDE-2009/110 POSITIVE SOLUTIONS 9 1−τ Z ≥γ G(s, s)fn (s, x(s))ds τ Z 1−τ ≥ Lγ G(s, s)x(s)ds τ ≥ LR0 γ 2 Z 1−τ G(s, s)ds. τ So inf x∈∂QR0 kTn xk > 0. Thus from Lemma 1.2, i(Tn , QR0 , Q) = 0. By the additivity of fixed point index, we know that i(Tn , QR0 \ QR , Q) = i(Tn , QR0 , Q) − i(Tn , QR , Q) = −1. As a result, there exist xn ∈ QR0 \ QR satisfying Tn xn = xn provided that n is sufficiently large. Without loss of generality, suppose Tn xn = xn , n ≥ n0 . Let D = {xn }n≥n0 be the sequence of solutions to (2.14). It is not difficult to prove that D is uniformly bounded. Next we show {xn }n≥n0 is equicontinuous on [0, 1]. It is obvious that we only need to prove limt→0+ (xn (t) − xn (0)) = 0, limt→1− (xn (t) − xn (1)) = 0 uniformly with respect to n ≥ n0 and D is equicontinuous on [σ, 1 − σ] ⊂ (0, 1) for σ ∈ (0, 1/2). Now we prove that lim (xn (t) − xn (0)) = 0, t→0+ uniformly with respect to n ≥ n0 . (3.7) According to (2.12), xn (t) − xn (0) Z 1 = G(t, s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(t) + B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(t) 0 Z − 0 1 G(0, s)fn (s, x(s))ds − A(fn (s, x(s))ψ(0) − B(fn (s, x(s))φ(0) Z t Z 1 1 1 ψ(s)fn (s, x(s))ds + (ψ(t) − ψ(0)) φ(s)fn (s, x(s))ds = φ(t) ρ ρ 0 t Z t 1 − φ(0) ψ(s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))(ψ(t) − ψ(0)) ρ 0 + B(fn (s, x(s)))(φ(t) − φ(0)) Z t 1 1 ψ(s)h(s)g max{ , x(s)} ds ≤ φ(t) ρ n 0 Z 1 1 1 φ(s)h(s)g max{ , x(s)} ds + (ψ(t) − ψ(0)) ρ n t Z t 1 1 − φ(0) ψ(s)h(s)g max{ , x(s)} ds ρ n 0 1 + A h(s)g max{ , x(s)} (ψ(t) − ψ(0)) n 1 + B h(s)g max{ , x(s)} (φ(0) − φ(t)) n Z t Z 1 1 1 ≤ M4 φ(t) ψ(s)h(s)ds + M4 (ψ(t) − ψ(0)) φ(s)h(s)ds ρ ρ 0 t (3.8) 10 J. JIANG, L. LIU 1 + φ(0)M4 ρ Z EJDE-2009/110 t 1 Z ψ(s)h(s)ds + AM4 (ψ(t) − ψ(0)) G(s, s)h(s)ds 0 0 Z + BM4 (φ(0) − φ(t)) 1 G(s, s)h(s)ds. 0 Since {xn (t)}n≥n0 is uniformly bounded, it follows that {g(xn )}n≥n0 is bounded. Therefore, there exists a constant M4 such that kg(xn )k < M4 for n ≥ n0 . This together with (H3) and (3.8) show that we need to prove only that Z t 1 ψ(s)h(s)ds = 0, (3.9) lim φ(t) t→0+ ρ 0 Z t 1 lim φ(0) ψ(s)h(s)ds = 0, (3.10) t→0+ ρ 0 Z 1 1 lim (ψ(t) − ψ(0)) φ(s)h(s)ds = 0, (3.11) t→0+ ρ t lim (ψ(t) − ψ(0)) = 0, lim (φ(0) − φ(t)) = 0. (3.12) t→0+ t→0+ Since ψ(t) and φ(t) are continuous on [0, 1], (3.12) holds. For all ε > 0, by the absolutely continuity of integral function and (H3), there exists δ1 ∈ (0, 21 ) such that t1 , t2 ∈ [0, 1], |t1 − t2 | < δ1 implies Z t2 G(s, s)h(s)ds < ε. (3.13) t1 Therefore, from (2.5) and (3.13), we have Z t Z t 1 φ(t) ψ(s)h(s)ds ≤ G(s, s)h(s)ds < ε, t ∈ (0, δ1 ], ρ 0 0 Z t Z t 1 φ(0) φ(0) ψ(s)h(s)ds ≤ G(s, s)h(s)ds < ε, t ∈ (0, δ1 ]; ρ φ(δ 1) 0 0 i.e., (3.9) and (3.10) hold. Z 1 1 (ψ(t) − ψ(0)) φ(s)h(s)ds ρ t Z δ1 Z 1 1 1 ≤ ψ(t) φ(s)h(s)ds + (ψ(t) − ψ(0)) φ(s)h(s)ds ρ ρ t δ1 Z δ1 Z ψ(t) − ψ(0) 1 ≤ G(s, s)h(s)ds + G(s, s)h(s)ds ≤ 2ε. ψ(δ1 ) δ1 t That is, (3.11) holds. By (3.9)-(3.12), (3.7) holds. Since |xn (t) − xn (1)| Z 1 = G(t, s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(t) + B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(t) 0 Z − 0 1 G(1, s)fn (s, x(s))ds − A(fn (s, x(s))ψ(1) − B(fn (s, x(s))φ(1) 1 ≤ (φ(t) − φ(1)) ρ Z 0 t 1 ψ(s)fn (s, x(s))ds + ψ(t) ρ Z 1 φ(s)fn (s, x(s))ds t EJDE-2009/110 POSITIVE SOLUTIONS 11 Z 1 1 − φ(1) ψ(s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))(ψ(t) − ψ(1)) ρ t + B(fn (s, x(s)))(φ(t) − φ(1)) Z t Z 1 1 1 ≤ M4 (φ(t) − φ(1)) ψ(s)h(s)ds + M4 ψ(t) φ(s)h(s)ds ρ ρ 0 t Z t Z 1 1 ψ(s)h(s)ds + AM4 (ψ(1) − ψ(t)) G(s, s)h(s)ds + φ(1)M4 ρ 0 0 Z 1 + BM4 (φ(t) − φ(1)) G(s, s)h(s)ds, 0 similar to the above, we can easily prove that lim (xn (t) − xn (1)) = 0, uniformly with respect to n ≥ n0 . t→1− (3.14) Next we prove that D is equicontinuous on [σ, 1 − σ] for any σ ∈ (0, 1/2). In fact, for n ≥ n0 , t1 , t2 ∈ [σ, 1 − σ] with t2 > t1 , we have |xn (t2 ) − xn (t1 )| Z 1 = G(t2 , s)fn (s, x(s))ds + A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(t2 ) + B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(t2 ) 0 Z 1 G(t1 , s)fn (s, x(s))ds − A(fn (s, x(s)))ψ(t1 ) − B(fn (s, x(s)))φ(t1 ) 0 Z t1 Z t2 1 1 ψ(s)fn (s, x(s))ds ψ(s)fn (s, x(s))ds + φ(t2 ) ≤ (φ(t2 ) − φ(t1 )) ρ ρ 0 t1 Z 1 Z t2 1 1 + (ψ(t2 ) − ψ(t1 )) φ(s)fn (s, x(s))ds − ψ(t1 ) φ(s)fn (s, x(s))ds ρ ρ t2 t1 + A(fn (s, x(s)))(ψ(t2 ) − ψ(t1 )) + B(fn (s, x(s)))(φ(t2 ) − φ(t1 )). (3.15) By (2.5) and the monotonicity of ψ(t) and φ(t), we have Z Z 1 t1 1 1 ψ(s)h(s)ds ≤ G(s, s)h(s)ds, (3.16) ρ 0 d 0 Z Z 1 1 1 1 φ(s)h(s)ds ≤ G(s, s)h(s)ds, (3.17) ρ t2 b 0 Z t2 Z t2 1 φ(t2 ) ψ(s)h(s)ds ≤ G(s, s)h(s)ds, (3.18) ρ t1 t1 Z t2 Z t2 1 ψ(t1 ) φ(s)h(s)ds ≤ G(s, s)h(s)ds. (3.19) ρ t1 t1 − By (3.15)-(3.19), we have |xn (t2 ) − xn (t1 )| 1 ≤ M4 ( + A)(ψ(t2 ) − ψ(t1 )) b 1 Z G(s, s)h(s)ds 0 1 + M4 ( + B)(φ(t1 ) − φ(t2 )) d Z 1 Z t2 G(s, s)h(s)ds + 2M4 0 G(s, s)h(s)ds. t1 12 J. JIANG, L. LIU EJDE-2009/110 By the above inequality, (H3), (3.9)-(3.12), and continuity of ψ(t), φ(t), D is equicontinuous on [σ, 1 − σ]. From the above proof, we can know D is equicontinuous on [0, 1]. It follows from Ascoli-Arzela’s theorem that the sequence {xn }n≥n0 has a subsequence which uniformly converges on [0, 1]. Without loss of generality, we assume that {xn } itself uniformly converges to x on [0, 1]. According to the Lebesgue’s dominated theorem, we know that x is the positive solution of (1.1)-(1.2). References [1] W. Feng; On a m-point nonlinear boundary-value problem, Nonlinear Anal. 30 (1997) 53695374. [2] G. N. Galanis, A. P. Palamides; Positive solutions of three-point boundary-value problems for p-Laplacian singular differential equations, Electron. J. Differential Equations 2005:106 (2005), 1-18. [3] D. Guo, V. lakshmikantham; Nonlinear Problems in Abstract Cone, Academic Press, New York, 1988. [4] X. He, W. 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Pang; Positive solutions of some singular m-point boundary-value problems at non-resonance, Appl. Math. Comput. 171 (2005) 433-449. [12] X. Xu; Positive solutions for singular m-point boundary-value problems with positive parameter, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 291 (2004) 352-367. [13] G. Zhang, J. Sun; Positive solutions of m-point boundary-value problems, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 291 (2004) 406-418. [14] G. Zhang, J. Sun; Multiple positive solutions of singular second-order m-point boundary-value problems, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 317 (2006) 442-447. Jiqiang Jiang School of Mathematical Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 273165, Shandong, China E-mail address: qfjjq@mail.qfnu.edu.cn, qfjjq@163.com Lishan Liu School of Mathematical Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 273165, Shandong, China E-mail address: lls@mail.qfnu.edu.cn, Tel. 86-537-4456234, Fax 86-537-4455076