ftp ejde.math.txstate.edu (login: ftp) SOLUTIONS TO SECOND ORDER NON-HOMOGENEOUS MULTI-POINT BVPS USING A FIXED-POINT THEOREM

Abstract. In this article, we study five non-homogeneous multi-point bound-ary-value problems (BVPs) of second order differential equations with the one-dimensional p-Laplacian. These problems have a common equation (in differ-ent function domains) and different boundary conditions. We find conditions that guarantee the existence of at least three positive solutions. The results obtained generalize several known ones and are illustrated by examples. It is also shown that the approach for getting three positive solutions by using multi-fixed-point theorems can be extended to nonhomogeneous BVPs. The emphasis is on the nonhomogeneous boundary conditions and the nonlinear term involving first order derivative of the unknown. Some open problems are also proposed. 1