Electronic Journal of Qualitative Theory of Differential Equations

2010, No. 5, 1-6; http://www.math.u-szeged.hu/ejqtde/

EXISTENCE OF A POSITIVE SOLUTION TO A RIGHT FOCAL

BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEM

RICHARD I. AVERY, JOHNNY HENDERSON AND DOUGLAS R. ANDERSON

Abstract. In this paper we apply the recent extension of the Leggett-Williams Fixed Point
Theorem which requires neither of the functional boundaries to be invariant to the second order
right focal boundary value problem. We demonstrate a technique that can be used to deal with
a singularity and provide a non-trivial example.

1. Introduction

The recent topological proof and extension of the Leggett-Williams fixed point theorem [3]
does not require either of the functional boundaries to be invariant with respect to a functional
wedge and its proof uses topological methods instead of axiomatic index theory. Functional
fixed point theorems (including [2, 4, 5, 6, 8]) can be traced back to Leggett and Williams [7]
when they presented criteria which guaranteed the existence of a fixed point for a completely
continuous map that did not require the operator to be invariant with regard to the concave
functional boundary of a functional wedge. Avery, Henderson, and ORegan [1], in a dual of
the Leggett-Williams fixed point theorem, gave conditions which guaranteed the existence of a
fixed point for a completely continuous map that did not require the operator to be invariant
relative to the concave functional boundary of a functional wedge. We will demonstrate a
technique to take advantage of the added flexibility of the new fixed point theorem for a right
focal boundary value problem.

2. Preliminaries

In this section we will state the definitions that are used in the remainder of the paper.
Definition 1. Let E be a real Banach space. A nonempty closed convex set P E is called a
cone if it satisfies the following two conditions:
(i) x P, 0 implies x P ;
(ii) x P, x P implies x = 0.

Every cone P E induces an ordering in E given by

x y if and only if y x P.
Definition 2. An operator is called completely continuous if it is continuous and maps bounded
sets into precompact sets.

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 34B10.

Key words and phrases. Fixed-point theorems, positive solutions, singularities, cone.
EJQTDE, 2010 No. 5, p. 1
Definition 3. A map is said to be a nonnegative continuous concave functional on a cone
P of a real Banach space E if : P [0, ) is continuous and
(tx + (1 t)y) t(x) + (1 t)(y)
for all x, y P and t [0, 1]. Similarly we say the map is a nonnegative continuous convex
functional on a cone P of a real Banach space E if : P [0, ) is continuous and
(tx + (1 t)y) t(x) + (1 t)(y)
for all x, y P and t [0, 1].

Let and be non-negative continuous concave functionals on P and and be non-negative

continuous convex functionals on P ; then, for non-negative real numbers a, b, c and d, we define
the following sets:
(1) A := A(, , a, d) = {x P : a (x) and (x) d},

(2) B := B(, , , a, b, d) = {x A : (x) b},

and
(3) C := C(, , , a, c, d) = {x A : c (x)}.
We say that A is a functional wedge with concave functional boundary defined by the concave
functional and convex functional boundary defined by the convex functional . We say
that an operator T : A P is invariant with respect to the concave functional boundary, if
a (T x) for all x A, and that T is invariant with respect to the convex functional boundary,
if (T x) d for all x A. Note that A is a convex set. The following theorem is an extension
of the original Leggett-Williams fixed point theorem [7].
Theorem 4. [Extension of Leggett-Williams] Suppose P is a cone in a real Banach space
E, and are non-negative continuous concave functionals on P , and are non-negative
continuous convex functionals on P , and for non-negative real numbers a, b, c and d the sets A,
B and C are as defined in (1), (2) and (3). Furthermore, suppose that A is a bounded subset
of P , that T : A P is completely continuous and that the following conditions hold:
(A1) {x A : c < (x) and (x) < b} = 6 and {x P : (x) < a and d < (x)} = ;
(A2) (T x) a for all x B;
(A3) (T x) a for all x A with (T x) > b;
(A4) (T x) d for all x C; and,
(A5) (T x) d for all x A with (T x) < c.
Then T has a fixed point x A.

3. Right Focal Boundary Value Problem

In this section we will illustrate the key techniques for verifying the existence of a positive
solution for a boundary value problem using the newly developed extension of the Leggett-
Williams fixed point theorem, applying the properties of a Greens function, bounding the
EJQTDE, 2010 No. 5, p. 2
nonlinearity by constants over some intervals, and using concavity to deal with a singularity.
Consider the second order nonlinear focal boundary value problem
(4) x (t) + f (x(t)) = 0, t (0, 1),

(5) x(0) = 0 = x (1),

where f : R [0, ) is continuous. If x is a fixed point of the operator T defined by
Z 1
T x(t) := G(t, s)f (x(s))ds,
0
where (
t : t s,
G(t, s) =
s : s t,
is the Greens function for the operator L defined by
Lx(t) := x ,
with right-focal boundary conditions
x(0) = 0 = x (1),
then it is well known that x is a solution of the boundary value problem (4), (5). Throughout
this section of the paper we will use the facts that G(t, s) is nonnegative, and for each fixed
s [0, 1], the Greens function is nondecreasing in t.

Define the cone P E = C[0, 1] by

P := {x E : x is nonnegative, nondecreasing, and concave} .
For fixed , , [0, 1] and x P , define the concave functionals and on P by
(x) := min x(t) = x( ), (x) := min x(t) = x(),
t[,1] t[,1]

and the convex functionals and on P by

(x) := max x(t) = x(), (x) := max x(t) = x(1).
t[0,] t[0,1]

In the following theorem, we demonstrate how to apply the Extension of the Leggett-Williams
Fixed Point Theorem (Theorem 4), to prove the existence of at least one positive solution to
(4), (5).
Theorem 5. If , , (0, 1] are fixed with < 1, d and m are positive real numbers
with 0 < m d and f : [0, ) [0, ) is a continuous function such that
d
(a) f (w) for w [ d, d],
(b) f (w) isdecreasing
 for w [0, m] with f (m) f (w) for w [m, d], and
R 2)
(c) 0 s f ds 2df (m)(1
ms
2
,
then the operator T has at least one positive solution x A(, , d, d).
EJQTDE, 2010 No. 5, p. 3
Proof. Let a = d, b = d = a
, and c = d. Let x A(, , a, d) then if t (0, 1), by the
properties of the Greens function (T x) (t) = f (x(t)) and T x(0) = 0 = (T x) (1), thus
T : A(, , a, d) P.
We will also take advantage of the following property of the Greens function. For any y, w
[0, 1] with y w we have
G(y, s) y
(6) min .
s[0,1] G(w, s) w
By the Arzela-Ascoli Theorem it is a standard exercise to show that T is a completely continuous
operator using the properties of G and f , and by the definition of , we have that A is a bounded
subset of the cone P . Also, if x P and (x) > d, then by the properties of the cone P ,
 
(x) = x( ) x(1) = (x) > d = a.
1
Therefore,
{x P : (x) < a and d < (x)} = .
 
2d 2d
For any K 2 , 2 the function xK defined by
Z 1
Kt(2 t)
xK (t) KG(t, s)ds = A,
0 2
since
K (2 ) d (2 )
(xK ) = xK ( ) = > d = a,
2 2
K d
(xK ) = xK (1) = < d,
2 2
and xK has the properties that
K(2 )
 
(2 )

2d
(xK ) = xK () = > = d = c
2 2 2
and
K(2 )
 
(2 )

2d
(xK ) = xK () = < = d = b.
2 2 2
Hence
{x A : c < (x) and (x) < b} = 6 .
Claim 1: (T x) a for all x B.

Let x B. Thus by condition (a),

1   Z
a
Z
(T x) = G(, s) f (x(s)) ds G(, s) ds
0 ( )
 
a
= ( ( )) = a.
( )
EJQTDE, 2010 No. 5, p. 4
Claim 2: (T x) a, for all x A with (T x) > b.

Let x A with (T x) > b. Thus by the properties of G (6),

Z 1   Z 1
(T x) = G(, s) f (x(s)) ds G(, s) f (x(s)) ds
0 0
   
= (T x) > (d) = a.

Claim 3: (T x) d, for all x C.

Let x C, thus by the concavity of x, for s [0, ] we have

cs ms
x(s) .

Hence by properties (b) and (c),

Z 1 Z 1
(T x) = G(1, s) f (x(s)) ds = s f (x(s)) ds
0 0
Z Z 1
= s f (x(s)) ds + s f (x(s)) ds
0
  1
ms
Z Z
sf ds + f (m) s ds
0
2d f (m)(1 2 ) f (m)(1 2 )
+ = d.
2 2
Claim 4: (T x) d, for all x A with (T x) < c.

Let x A with (T x) < c. Thus by the properties of G (6),

1  Z 1
1
Z
(T x) = G(1, s) f (x(s)) ds G(, s) f (x(s)) ds
0 0
     
1 1 1
= T x() = (T x) c = d.

Therefore, the hypotheses of Theorem 4 have been satisfied; thus the operator T has at least
one positive solution x A(, , a, d). 
We note that because of the concavity of solutions, the proof of Theorem 5 remains valid for
certain singular nonlinearities as presented in this example.
Example: Let
5 1 3 15
d = , = , = , and = .
4 16 4 16
EJQTDE, 2010 No. 5, p. 5
Then the boundary value problem
1
x + + x = 0,
x
with right-focal boundary conditions
x(0) = 0 = x (1),
has at least one positive solution x which can be verified by the above theorem, with
5/64 x (1/16) and x (1) 5/4.

References
[1] R. I. Avery, J. Henderson and D. ORegan, Dual of the compression-expansion fixed point theorems, Fixed
Point Theory and Applications, 2007 (2007), Article ID 90715, 11 pages.
[2] D. R. Anderson and R. I. Avery, Fixed point theorem of cone expansion and compression of functional
type, J. Difference Equations Appl., 8(2002), 10731083.
[3] D. R. Anderson, R. I. Avery and J. Henderson, A topological proof and extension of the Leggett-Williams
fixed point theorem, Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis, 16(2009), 3944.
[4] D. Guo, A new fixed point theorem, Acta Math. Sinica, 24(1981), 444450.
[5] D. Guo, Some fixed point theorems on cone maps, Kexeu Tongbao, 29(1984), 575578.
[6] M. A. Krasnoselskii, Positive Solutions of Operator Equations, P. Noordhoff, Groningen, The Netherlands,
1964.
[7] R. W. Leggett and L. R. Williams, Multiple positive fixed points of nonlinear operators on ordered Banach
spaces, Indiana Univ. Math. J., 28(1979), 673688.
[8] J. Sun and G. Zhang, A generalization of the cone expansion and compression fixed point theorem and
applications, Nonlin. Anal., 67(2007), 579-586.
[9] E. Zeidler, Nonlinear Functional Analysis and its Applications I: Fixed-Point Theorems, Springer-Verlag,
New York, 1986.

(Received November 23, 2009)

College of Arts and Sciences, Dakota State University, Madison, South Dakota 57042 USA
E-mail address: rich.avery@dsu.edu

Department of Mathematics, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76798 USA

E-mail address: Johnny Henderson@baylor.edu

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN

56562 USA
E-mail address: andersod@cord.edu

EJQTDE, 2010 No. 5, p. 6