Sign-changing solutions to a class of nonlinear equations involving the $p$-Laplacian

Abstract

This paper deals with a class of nonlinear problems $$ -(r^{n-1}|u'|^{p-2}u')'+r^{n-1}q(r)|u|^{p-2}u =r^{n-1}w(r)f(u) $$ in $(0,1)$, where $1\leq n\lt p\lt \infty $ and $'={d}/{dr}$. We study the existence of nodal solutions to this nonautonomous system. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of sign-changing solutions and also observe an application related to the case of multi-point boundary conditions. Methods used here are energy function control, shooting arguments and Pr\"{u}fer-type substitutions.