Nonlinear nonhomogeneous boundary value problems with competition phenomena

Abstract: We consider a nonlinear boundary value problem driven by a nonhomogeneous differential operator. The problem exhibits competing nonlinearities with a superlinear (convex) contribution coming from the reaction term and a sublinear (concave) contribution coming from the parametric boundary (source) term. We show that for all small parameter values $\lambda>0$, the problem has at least five nontrivial smooth solutions, four of constant sign and one nodal. We also produce extremal constant sign solutions and determine their monotonicity and continuity properties as the parameter $\lambda>0$ varies. In the semilinear case we produce a sixth nontrivial solution but without any sign information. Our approach uses variational methods together with truncation and perturbation techniques, and Morse theory.