Positive Solutions for Singular Boundary Value Problems of Coupled Systems of Nonlinear Differential Equations ()
The proof relies on Schauder’s fixed point theorem. Some recent results in the literature are generalized and improved.
Keywords:
1. Introduction
In this paper, we consider the existence of positive solutions for coupled singular system of second order ordinary differential equations
(1.1)
Throughout this paper, we always suppose that

In recent years, singular boundary value problems to second ordinary differential equations have been studied extensively (see [1] -[3] ). Some classical tools have been used in the literature to study the positive solutions for second order singular boundary value problems of a coupled system of differential equations. These classical methods include some fixed point theorems in cones for completely continuous operators and Schauder fixed point theorem, for example, see [4] -[6] and literatures therein. Motivated by the recent work on coupled systems of second-order differential equations, we consider the existence of singular boundary value problem. By means of the Schauder fixed point theorem, we study the existence of positive solutions of coupled system (1.1).
2. Preliminary
We consider the scalar equation
(2.1)
with boundary conditions
(2.2)
Suppose that
is a positive solution of (2.1) and (2.2). Then

where
can be written by

here
,
and
,
.
Lemma 2.1. Suppose that
holds, then the Green’s function
, defined by (2.3) possesses the following properties:
1):
is increasing and
.
2):
is decreasing and
.
3):
.
4):
.
5):
is a positive constant. Moreover,
.
6):
is continuous and symmetrical over
.
7):
has continuously partial derivative over
,
.
8): For each fixed
,
satisfies
for
,
. Moreover,
for
.
9):
has discontinuous point of the first kind at
and
![]()
We define the function
by
![]()
which is the unique solution of
![]()
Following from Lemma
and
, it is easy to see that
![]()
Let us fix some notation to be used in the following: For a given function
, we denote the essential supremum and infimum by
and
. if they exist. Let,
,
.
3. Main Results
1)
,
.
Theorem 3.1. We assume that there exists
,
, and
such that
![]()
If
,
, then there exists a positive solution of (1.1).
Proof A positive solution of (1.1) is just a fixed point of the completely continuous map
defined as
![]()
By a direct application of Schauder’s fixed point theorem, the proof is finished if we prove that A maps the closed convex set defined as
![]()
into itself, where
,
are positive constants to be fixed properly. For convenience, we introduce the following notations
![]()
Given
, by the nonnegative sign of
and
,
we have
![]()
Note for every ![]()
![]()
Similarly, by the same strategy, we have
![]()
![]()
Thus
if
are chosen so that
![]()
Note that
,
and taking
,
,
, it is sufficient to find
such that
![]()
and these inequalities hold for
big enough because
.
2)
,
.
The aim of this section is to show that the presence of a weak singular nonlinearity makes it possible to find positive solutions if
,
.
Theorem 3.2. We assume that there exists
,
, and
such that
is satisfied. If
,
and
(3.1)
then there exists a positive solution of (1.1).
Proof In this case, to prove that
it is sufficient to find
,
such that
(3.2)
(3.3)
If we fix
,
, then the first inequality of (3.3) holds if
satisfies
![]()
or equivalently
![]()
The function
possesses a minimum at
![]()
Taking
, then (3.3) holds if
![]()
Similarly,
![]()
possesses a minimum at
![]()
![]()
Taking
,
, then the first inequalities in (3.2) and (3.3) hold if
and
, which are just condition (3.1). The second inequalities hold directly from the choice of
and
, so it
remains to prove that
,
This is easily verified through elementary computations:
![]()
since
,
Similarly, we have
.
3) ![]()
Theorem 3.3. Assume that
is satisfied. If
,
and
(3.4)
where
is a unique positive solution of equation
(3.5)
then there exists a positive solution of (1.1).
Proof We follow the same strategy and notation as in the proof of ahead theorem. In this case, to prove that
, it is sufficient to find
,
such that
(3.6)
(3.7)
If we fix
, then the first inequality of (3.6) holds if
satisfies
(3.8)
or equivalently
(3.9)
If we chose
small enough, then (3.9) holds, and
is big enough.
If we fix
then the first inequality of (3.7) holds if
satisfies
![]()
or equivalently
(3.10)
According to
![]()
we have
,
, then there exists
such that
, and
![]()
Then the function
possesses a minimum at
, i.e.,
.
Note
then we have
![]()
or equivalently
![]()
Taking
, then the first inequality in (3.7) holds if
, which is just condition (3.4). The second inequalities hold directly by the choice of
, and it would remain to prove that
and
. These inequalities hold for
big enough and
small enough.
Remark 1. In theorem 3.3 the right-hand side of condition (3.4) always negative, this is equivalent to proof that
. This is obviously established through the proof of Theorem 3.3.
Similarly, we have the following theorem.
Theorem 3.4. Assume
is satisfied. If
,
and
![]()
where
is a unique positive solution of the equation
![]()
then there exists a positive solution of (1.1).
Funding
Project supported by Heilongjiang province education department natural science research item, China (12541076).