Consider the equation

where are linear positive continuous operators and f : Cloc(ℝ;ℝ) → Lloc(ℝ;ℝ) is a continuous operator satisfying the local Carathéodory conditions. Efficient conditions guaranteeing the existence of a global solution, which is bounded and non-negative in the neighbourhood of –∞, to the equation considered are established provided that ℓ0, ℓ1 and f are Volterra-type operators. The existence of a solution that is positive on the whole real line is discussed as well. Furthermore, the asymptotic properties of such solutions are studied in the neighbourhood of –∞. The results are applied to certain models appearing in the natural sciences.

We consider boundary-value problems for differential equations of second order containing a Brownian motion (random perturbation) and a small parameter and prove a special existence and uniqueness theorem for random solutions. We study the asymptotic behaviour of these solutions as the small parameter goes to zero and show the stochastic averaging theorem for such equations. We find the explicit limits for the solutions as the small parameter goes to zero.

We study the periodic and Neumann boundary-value problems associated with the second-order nonlinear differential equation

where is a sublinear function at infinity having superlinear growth at zero. We prove the existence of two positive solutions when

and λ > 0 is sufficiently large. Our approach is based on Mawhin's coincidence degree theory and index computations.

We study a class of second-order nonlinear differential equations on a finite interval with periodic boundary conditions. The nonlinearity in the equations can take negative values and may be unbounded from below. Criteria are established for the existence of non-trivial solutions, positive solutions and negative solutions of the problems under consideration. Applications of our results to related eigenvalue problems are also discussed. Examples are included to illustrate some of the results. Our analysis relies mainly on topological degree theory.