On fourth-order elliptic boundary value problems

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the existence and uniqueness of a solution for a class of fourth-order elliptic boundary value problems. The existence of a solution is proven by the method of upper and lower solutions without any monotone nondecreasing or nonincreasing property of the nonlinear function. Sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of a solution and some techniques for the construction of upper and lower solutions are given. All the existence and uniqueness results are directly applicable to fourth-order two-point boundary value problems.