Abstract: | We are concerned with the following Dirichlet problem:
−Δu(x) = f(x, u), x∈Ω, u∈H
1
0(Ω), (P)
where f(x, t) ∈C (×ℝ), f(x, t)/t is nondecreasing in t∈ℝ and tends to an L
∞-function q(x) uniformly in x∈Ω as t→ + ∞ (i.e., f(x, t) is asymptotically linear in t at infinity). In this case, an Ambrosetti-Rabinowitz-type condition, that is, for some θ > 2, M > 0,
0 > θF(x, s) ≤f(x, s)s, for all |s|≥M and x∈Ω, (AR)
is no longer true, where F(x, s) = ∫
s
0
f(x, t)dt. As is well known, (AR) is an important technical condition in applying Mountain Pass Theorem. In this paper, without assuming
(AR) we prove, by using a variant version of Mountain Pass Theorem, that problem (P) has a positive solution under suitable
conditions on f(x, t) and q(x). Our methods also work for the case where f(x, t) is superlinear in t at infinity, i.e., q(x) ≡ +∞.
Received June 24, 1998, Accepted January 14, 2000. |