On ground state solutions for singular and semi-linear problems including super-linear terms at infinity

We establish a result concerning the existence of entire, positive, classical and bounded solutions which converge to zero at infinity for the semi-linear equation −Δu=λf(x,u),x∈R^N, where f:R^N×(0,∞)→[0,∞) is a suitable function and λ>0 is a real parameter. This result completes the principal theorem of A. Mohammed [A. Mohammed, Ground state solutions for singular semi-linear elliptic equations, Nonlinear Analysis (2008) doi:10.1016/j.na.2008.11.080] mainly because his result does not address the super-linear terms at infinity. Penalty arguments, lower-upper solutions and an approximation procedure will be used.     

Elliptic systems with measurable coefficients of the type of Lamé system in three dimensions

We study the 3×3 elliptic systems ∇(a(x)∇×u)−∇(b(x)∇⋅u)=f, where the coefficients a(x) and b(x) are positive scalar functions that are measurable and bounded away from zero and infinity. We prove that weak solutions of the above system are Hölder continuous under some minimal conditions on the inhomogeneous term f. We also present some applications and discuss several related topics including estimates of the Green?s functions and the heat kernels of the above systems.     

Uniform decay estimates for finite-energy solutions of semi-linear elliptic inequalities and geometric applications

We prove uniform decay estimates at infinity for solutions 0?u∈Lp of the semilinear elliptic inequality Δu+auσ+bu?0, a,b?0, σ?1, in the presence of a Sobolev inequality (with potential term). This gives a unified point of view in the investigation of different geometric questions. In particular, we present applications to the study of the topology at infinity of parallel mean curvature submanifolds, to the non-compact Yamabe problem, and to estimate the decay rate of the traceless Ricci tensor of conformally flat manifolds.     

Local regularity theorems for the stationary thermistor problem with oscillating degeneracy

In this paper we present some regularity results for solutions to the system −Δu=σ(u)²|∇φ|, div(σ(u)∇φ)=0 in the case where σ(u) is allowed to oscillate between 0 and a positive number as u→∞. In particular, we show that u is locally bounded if σ(u) is bounded below by a suitable exponential function.     

Existence and asymptotic behavior for elliptic equations with singular anisotropic potentials

We study the equation Δu+u|u|^p−1+V(x)u+f(x)=0 in Rn, where n?3 and p>n/(n−2). The forcing term f and the potential V can be singular at zero, change sign and decay polynomially at infinity. We can consider anisotropic potentials of form h(x)|x|⁻² where h is not purely angular. We obtain solutions u which blow up at the origin and do not belong to any Lebesgue space Lr. Also, u is positive and radial, in case f and V are. Asymptotic stability properties of solutions, their behavior near the singularity, and decay are addressed.     

Critical exponents and blow-up rate for a nonlinear diffusion equation with logarithmic boundary flux

In this paper, we establish the critical global existence exponent and the critical Fujita exponent for the nonlinear diffusion equation u_t=(log^σ(1+u)u_x)_x, in R₊×(0,+∞), subject to a logarithmic boundary flux , furthermore give the blow-up rate for the nonglobal solutions.     

On the mean oscillation of the Hessian of solutions to the Monge-Ampère equation

We give interior a priori estimates for the mean oscillation of second derivatives of solutions to the Monge-Ampère equation detD²u=f(x) with zero boundary values, where f(x) is a non-Dini continuous function. If the modulus of continuity of f(x) is φ(r) such that limr→0φ(r)log(1/r)=0, then D²u∈VMO.     

Regularity of the extremal solution for some elliptic problems with singular nonlinearity and advection

In this note, we investigate the regularity of the extremal solution u^? for the semilinear elliptic equation −△u+c(x)⋅∇u=λf(u) on a bounded smooth domain of Rn with Dirichlet boundary condition. Here f is a positive nondecreasing convex function, exploding at a finite value a∈(0,∞). We show that the extremal solution is regular in the low-dimensional case. In particular, we prove that for the radial case, all extremal solutions are regular in dimension two.     

Blowup stability of solutions of the nonlinear heat equation with a large life span

We study the Cauchy problem for the nonlinear heat equation u_t-?u=|u|^p-1u in R^N. The initial data is of the form u₀=λ?, where ?∈C₀(R^N) is fixed and λ>0. We first take 1<p<p_f, where p_f is the Fujita critical exponent, and ?∈C₀(R^N)∩L¹(R^N) with nonzero mean. We show that u(t) blows up for λ small, extending the H. Fujita blowup result for sign-changing solutions. Next, we consider 1<p<p_s, where p_s is the Sobolev critical exponent, and ?(x) decaying as |x|^-σ at infinity, where p<1+2/σ. We also prove that u(t) blows up when λ is small, extending a result of T. Lee and W. Ni. For both cases, the solution enjoys some stable blowup properties. For example, there is single point blowup even if ? is not radial.     

Structure of boundary blow-up solutions for quasi-linear elliptic problems II: small and intermediate solutions

The structure of positive boundary blow-up solutions to quasi-linear elliptic problems of the form −Δ_pu=λf(u), u=∞ on ∂Ω, 1<p<∞, is studied in a bounded smooth domain , for a class of nonlinearities f∈C¹((0,∞)?{z₂})∩C⁰[0,∞) satisfying f(0)=f(z₁)=f(z₂)=0 with 0<z₁<z₂, f<0 in (0,z₁)∪(z₂,∞), f>0 in (z₁,z₂). Large, small and intermediate solutions are obtained for λ sufficiently large. It is known from Part I (see Structure of boundary blow-up solutions for quasilinear elliptic problems, part (I): large and small solutions, preprint), that the large solution is the unique large solution to the problem. We will see that the small solution is also the unique small solution to the problem while there are infinitely many intermediate solutions. Our results are new even for the case p=2.     

Monotonicity of solutions of Fully nonlinear uniformly elliptic equations in the half-plane

In this paper we study the monotonicity of positive (or non-negative) viscosity solutions to uniformly elliptic equations F(∇u,D²u)=f(u) in the half plane, where f is locally Lipschitz continuous (with f(0)?0) and zero Dirichlet boundary conditions are imposed. The result is obtained without assuming the u or |∇u| are bounded.     

Quenching for nonlinear degenerate parabolic problems

For the problem given by u_τ=(ξ^ru^mu_ξ)_ξ/ξ^r+f(u) for 0<ξ<a, 0<τ<Λ≤∞, u(ξ,0)=u₀(ξ) for 0≤ξ≤a, and u(0,τ)=0=u(a,τ) for 0<τ<Λ, where a and m are positive constants, r is a constant less than 1, f(u) is a positive function such that lim_u→c⁻f(u)=∞ for some positive constant c, and u₀(ξ) is a given function satisfying u₀(0)=0=u₀(a), this paper studies quenching of the solution u.     

Coincidence sets in quasilinear elliptic problems of monostable type

This paper concerns the formation of a coincidence set for the positive solution of the boundary value problem: −εΔpu=uq−1f(a(x)−u) in Ω with u=0 on ∂Ω, where ε is a positive parameter, Δpu=div(|∇u|^p−2∇u), 1<q?p<∞, f(s)∼|s|^θ−1s(s→0) for some θ>0 and a(x) is a positive smooth function satisfying Δpa=0 in Ω with infΩ|∇a|>0. It is proved in this paper that if 0<θ<1 the coincidence set Oε={x∈Ω:uε(x)=a(x)} has a positive measure for small ε and converges to Ω with order O(ε1/p) as ε→0. Moreover, it is also shown that if θ?1, then Oε is empty for any ε>0. The proofs rely on comparison theorems and the energy method for obtaining local comparison functions.     

Eigenvalue problems for second-order nonlinear dynamic equations on time scales

This paper is concerned with the existence and nonexistence of positive solutions of the second-order nonlinear dynamic equation uΔΔ(t)+λa(t)f(u(σ(t)))=0, t∈[0,1], satisfying either the conjugate boundary conditions u(0)=u(σ(1))=0 or the right focal boundary conditions u(0)=uΔ(σ(1))=0, where a and f are positive. We show that there exists a λ^∗>0 such that the above boundary value problem has at least two, one and no positive solutions for 0<λ<λ^∗, λ=λ^∗ and λ>λ^∗, respectively. Furthermore, by using the semiorder method on cones of the Banach space, we establish an existence and uniqueness criterion for positive solution of the problem. In particular, such a positive solution uλ(t) of the problem depends continuously on the parameter λ, i.e., uλ(t) is nondecreasing in λ, limλ→⁰⁺‖uλ‖=0 and limλ→+∞‖uλ‖=+∞.     

Asymptotic behavior for differential equations which cannot be locally linearized

For functions ? which are continuous and locally Lipschitz the authors define a multi-valued differential D_f and prove that if all solutions of the multi-valued differential equation u′ ? D_f(u) approach zero as t → ∞, then all solutions x(·) of x′ = ?(x) with small |x(0)| approach zero exponentially as t → ∞. If ? is continuously differentiable, then D_f coincides with the (single-valued) Frechet differential of ?. Other results on the asymptotic behavior of solutions of perturbed, multi-valued differential equations are presented.     

Nondegeneracy and uniqueness for boundary blow-up elliptic problems

In this paper, we use for the first time linearization techniques to deal with boundary blow-up elliptic problems. After introducing a convenient functional setting, we show that the problem Δu=λa(x)u^p+g(x,u) in Ω, with u=+∞ on ∂Ω, has a unique positive solution for large enough λ, and determine its asymptotic behavior as λ→+∞. Here p>1, a(x) is a continuous function which can be singular near ∂Ω and g(x,u) is a perturbation term with potential growth near zero and infinity. We also consider more general problems, obtained by replacing u^p by e^u or a “logistic type” function f(u).     

Bound states of nonlinear Schrödinger equations with potentials tending to zero at infinity

In this paper, we are concerned with the existence of solutions to the N-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation −ε²Δu+V(x)u=K(x)up with u(x)>0, u∈H¹(RN), N?3 and . When the potential V(x) decays at infinity faster than ⁻²(1+|x|) and K(x)?0 is permitted to be unbounded, we will show that the positive H¹(RN)-solutions exist if it is assumed that G(x) has local minimum points for small ε>0, here with denotes the ground energy function which is introduced in [X. Wang, B. Zeng, On concentration of positive bound states of nonlinear Schrödinger equations with competing potential functions, SIAM J. Math. Anal. 28 (1997) 633-655]. In addition, when the potential V(x) decays to zero at most like (1+|x|)^−α with 0<α?2, we also discuss the existence of positive H¹(RN)-solutions for unbounded K(x). Compared with some previous papers [A. Ambrosetti, A. Malchiodi, D. Ruiz, Bound states of nonlinear Schrödinger equations with potentials vanishing at infinity, J. Anal. Math. 98 (2006) 317-348; A. Ambrosetti, D. Ruiz, Radial solutions concentrating on spheres of NLS with vanishing potentials, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh Sect. A 136 (2006) 889-907; A. Ambrosetti, Z.Q. Wang, Nonlinear Schrödinger equations with vanishing and decaying potentials, Differential Integral Equations 18 (2005) 1321-1332] and so on, we remove the restrictions on the potential function V(x) which decays at infinity like (1+|x|)^−α with 0<α?2 as well as the restrictions on the boundedness of K(x)>0. Therefore, we partly answer a question posed in the reference [A. Ambrosetti, A. Malchiodi, Concentration phenomena for NLS: Recent results and new perspectives, preprint, 2006].     

On directional blow-up for quasilinear parabolic equations with fast diffusion

We discuss blow-up at space infinity of solutions to quasilinear parabolic equations of the form ut=Δ?(u)+f(u) with initial data u₀∈L^∞(RN), where ? and f are nonnegative functions satisfying ?^″?0 and . We study nonnegative blow-up solutions whose blow-up times coincide with those of solutions to the O.D.E. v^′=f(v) with initial data ‖u_0‖L^∞(RN). We prove that such a solution blows up only at space infinity and possesses blow-up directions and that they are completely characterized by behavior of initial data. Moreover, necessary and sufficient conditions on initial data for blow-up at minimal blow-up time are also investigated.     

Positive solutions of the p-Laplacian involving a superlinear nonlinearity with zeros

Using a combination of several methods, such as variational methods, the sub and supersolutions method, comparison principles and a priori estimates, we study existence, multiplicity, and the behavior with respect to λ of positive solutions of p-Laplace equations of the form −Δpu=λh(x,u), where the nonlinear term has p-superlinear growth at infinity, is nonnegative, and satisfies h(x,a(x))=0 for a suitable positive function a. In order to manage the asymptotic behavior of the solutions we extend a result due to Redheffer and we establish a new Liouville-type theorem for the p-Laplacian operator, where the nonlinearity involved is superlinear, nonnegative, and has positive zeros.