Sign-definiteness of q-eigenfunctions for a super-linear p-Laplacian eigenvalue problem

We consider the following q-eigenvalue problem for the p-Laplacian $$\left\{\begin{array}{ll}-{\rm div}\big( |\nabla u|^{p-2}\nabla u\big) = \lambda \|u\|_{L^{q}(\Omega)}^{p-q}|u|^{q-2}u \quad \quad\, {\rm in} \,\,\,\, \Omega\\ \quad\quad\quad \quad \quad \quad u = 0 \quad\qquad\qquad \quad\quad \,\,{\rm on } \,\,\,\, \partial\Omega,\end{array}\right.$$ where \({\lambda\in\mathbb{R},}\) p > 1, Ω is a bounded and smooth domain of \({\mathbb{R}^{N},}\) N > 1, \({1\leq q < p^{\star}}\) , \({p^{\star}=\frac{Np}{N-p}}\) if p < N and \({p^{\star}=\infty}\) if \({p\geq N.}\) Let λ _q denote the first q-eigenvalue. We prove that in the super-linear case, \({p < q < p^{\star},}\) there exists \({\epsilon_{q}>0}\) such that if \({\lambda\in(\lambda_{q},\lambda _{q}+\epsilon_{q})}\) is a q-eigenvalue, then any corresponding q-eigenfunction does not change sign in Ω. As a consequence of this result we obtain, in the super-linear case, the isolatedness of λ _q for those Ω such that the Lane–Emden problem $$\left\{\begin{array}{ll}-{\rm div}\big(|\nabla u|^{p-2}\nabla u\big) = |u|^{q-2}u \qquad\quad\quad\quad \,\,{\rm in}\,\,\,\Omega\\ \quad\quad\quad \quad \quad \quad u = 0 \quad\qquad\qquad \quad\quad \,{\rm on } \,\,\, \partial\Omega,\end{array}\right.$$ has exactly one positive solution.     

On Some Quasilinear Elliptic Systems with Singular and Sign-Changing Potentials

Using variational methods, we study the existence and nonexistence of nontrivial weak solutions for the quasilinear elliptic system $$\left\{\begin{array}{ll}- {\rm div}(h_1(|\nabla u|^2)\nabla u) = \frac{\mu}{|x|^2}u + \lambda F_u(x, u, \upsilon)\quad {\rm in}\,\Omega,\\- {\rm div}(h_2(|\nabla \upsilon|^2)\nabla \upsilon) = \frac{\mu}{|x|^2}\upsilon + \lambda F_\upsilon(x,u,\upsilon)\quad {\rm in}\,\Omega,\\u = \upsilon = 0 \qquad \qquad \qquad \qquad \qquad \qquad {\rm in}\, \partial\Omega, \end{array}\right.$$ where \({\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^N,N \geq 3}\) , is a bounded domain containing the origin with smooth boundary \({\partial \Omega ; h_i, i = 1, 2}\) , are nonhomogeneous potentials; \({(F_u, F_v) = \nabla F}\) stands for the gradient of a sign-changing C ¹-function \({F : \Omega \times \mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{R}}\) in the variable \({{w = (u, v) \in \mathbb{R}^2}}\) ; and λ and μ are parameters.     

Existence and Multiplicity Results for Some Elliptic Systems in Unbounded Cylinders

We study the following nonlinear elliptic system of Lane–Emden type $$\left\{\begin{array}{ll} -\Delta u = {\rm sgn}(v) |v| ^{p-1} \qquad \qquad \qquad \; {\rm in} \; \Omega , \\ -\Delta v = - \lambda {\rm sgn} (u)|u| \frac{1}{p-1} + f(x, u)\; \; {\rm in}\; \Omega , \\ u = v = 0 \qquad \qquad \qquad \quad \quad \;\;\;\;\; {\rm on}\; \partial \Omega , \end{array}\right.$$ where ${\lambda \in \mathbb{R}}$ . If ${\lambda \geq 0}$ and ${\Omega}$ is an unbounded cylinder, i.e., ${\Omega = \tilde \Omega \times \mathbb{R}^{N-m} \subset \mathbb{R}^{N}}$ , ${N - m \geq 2, m \geq 1}$ , existence and multiplicity results are proved by means of the Principle of Symmetric Criticality and some compact imbeddings in partially spherically symmetric spaces. We are able to state existence and multiplicity results also if ${\lambda \in \mathbb{R}}$ and ${\Omega}$ is a bounded domain in ${\mathbb{R}^{N}, N \geq 3}$ . In particular, a good finite dimensional decomposition of the Banach space in which we work is given.     

Strong Regularizing Effect of a Gradient Term in the Heat Equation with a Weight

We deal with the following parabolic problem, $$(P)\left\{\begin{array}{lll} u_t - \Delta{u} + |\nabla{u}|^q \quad=\quad \lambda{g}(x)u + f(x, t),\quad u > 0 \; {\rm in} \; \Omega \; \times \; (0, T),\\ \qquad\quad\quad\; u(x, t) \quad=\quad 0 \quad{\rm on}\; {\partial}{\Omega}\; \times ; (0, T),\\ \qquad\quad\quad\; u(x, 0) \quad=\quad u_{0}(x), \quad x \in {\Omega},\end{array}\right.$$ where is a bounded regular domain or ${\Omega = \mathbb{R}^N}$ , ${1 < q \leq 2, \lambda > 0\; {\rm and}\; f \geq 0, u_{0} \geq 0}$ are in a suitable class of functions. We give assumptions on g with respect to q for which for all λ >  0 and all ${f \in L^1(\Omega_T ), f \geq 0}$ , problem (P) has a positive solution. Under some additional conditions on the data, the Cauchy problem and the asymptotic behavior of the solution are also considered.     

Changing-sign bubble solutions for an anisotropic sinh-Poisson equation

We consider the following anisotropic sinh-Poisson equation $${\rm div} (a(x) \nabla u)+ 2\varepsilon^2 a(x) {\rm sinh}\,u=0\ \ {\rm in}\ \Omega, \quad u=0 \ \ {\rm on}\ \partial \Omega,$$ where ${\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^2}$ is a bounded smooth domain and a(x) is a positive smooth function. We investigate the effect of anisotropic coefficient ${a(x)}$ on the existence of bubbling solutions. We show that there exists a family of solutions u _?? concentrating positively and negatively at ${\bar{x}}$ , a given local critical point of a(x), for ?? sufficiently small, for which with the property $$2\varepsilon^2a(x){\rm sinh} u_\varepsilon \rightharpoonup 8\pi\sum\limits_{j=1}^{m}b_j\delta_{\bar{x}},$$ where ${b_j=\pm 1}$ . This result shows a striking difference with the isotropic case (a(x) ?? Constant) in Bartolucci and Pistoia (IMA J Appl Math 72(6):706?C729, 2007), Jost et?al. (Calc Var Partial Differ Equ 31:263?C276, 2008) and Esposito and Wei (Calc Var Partial Differ Equ 34:341?C375, 2009).     

Two results on arithmetical functions

Generalizing two results of Rieger [8] and Selberg [10] we give asymptotic formulas for sums of type $${\matrix {\sum \limits_{n\leq x}\cr n\equiv l({\rm mod}k)\cr f_{\kappa}(n)\equiv s_{\kappa}({\rm mod}p_{\kappa})\cr (\kappa=1,\dots,r)\cr}}\qquad \chi(n)\qquad {\rm and} {\matrix {\sum \limits_{n\leq x}\cr n\equiv l({\rm mod}k)\cr f_{\kappa}(n)\equiv s_{\kappa}({\rm mod}p_{\kappa})\cr (\kappa=1,\dots,r)\cr}}\qquad \chi(n),$$ where χ is a suitable multiplicative function, f₁,…, f _r are “small” additive, prime-independent arithmetical functions and k, l are coprime. The proofs are based on an analytic method which consists of considering the Dirichlet series generated by $ \chi(n)z_{1}^{f_{1}(n)}\cdot... \cdot z_{r}^{f_{r}(n)},z_{1}\dots z_{r} $ complex.     

On the Fučik spectrum of non-local elliptic operators

In this article, we study the Fu?ik spectrum of the fractional Laplace operator which is defined as the set of all \({(\alpha, \beta)\in \mathbb{R}^2}\) such that $$\quad \left.\begin{array}{ll}\quad (-\Delta)^s u = \alpha u^{+} - \beta u^{-} \quad {\rm in}\;\Omega \\ \quad \quad \quad u = 0 \quad \quad \quad \qquad {\rm in}\; \mathbb{R}^n{\setminus}\Omega.\end{array}\right\}$$ has a non-trivial solution u, where \({\Omega}\) is a bounded domain in \({\mathbb{R}^n}\) with Lipschitz boundary, n > 2s, \({s \in (0, 1)}\) . The existence of a first nontrivial curve \({\mathcal{C}}\) of this spectrum, some properties of this curve \({\mathcal{C}}\) , e.g. Lipschitz continuous, strictly decreasing and asymptotic behavior are studied in this article. A variational characterization of second eigenvalue of the fractional eigenvalue problem is also obtained. At the end, we study a nonresonance problem with respect to the Fu?ik spectrum.     

Limits as p → ∞ of p-laplacian eigenvalue problems perturbed with a concave or convex term

We investigate the asymptotic behaviour as p → ∞ of sequences of positive weak solutions of the equation $$\left\{\begin{array}{l}-\Delta_p u = \lambda\,u^{p-1}+ u^{q(p)-1}\quad {\rm in}\quad \Omega,\\ u = 0 \quad {\rm on}\quad \partial\Omega,\end{array} \right.$$ where λ > 0 and either 1 < q(p) < p or p < q(p), with ${{\lim_{p\to\infty}{q(p)}/{p}=Q\neq1}}$ . Uniform limits are characterized as positive viscosity solutions of the problem $$\left\{\begin{array}{l}\min\left\{|\nabla u (x)| - \max\{\Lambda\,u (x),u ^Q(x)\}, -\Delta_{\infty}u (x)\right\} = 0 \quad {\rm in} \quad \Omega,\\ u = 0\quad {\rm on}\quad \partial\Omega.\end{array}\right.$$ for appropriate values of Λ > 0. Due to the decoupling of the nonlinearity under the limit process, the limit problem exhibits an intermediate behavior between an eigenvalue problem and a problem with a power-like right-hand side. Existence and non-existence results for both the original and the limit problems are obtained.     

Existence Results for Critical Semi-linear Equations on Heisenberg Group Domains

Following the work of G. Citti and F. Uguzzoni who studied Yamabe type problems on Heisenberg group domains, we consider here the following critical semi-linear equation on domains of the Heisenberg group ${{\mathbb{H}^1}}$ : $$(P) \left\{\begin{array}{lll}-{\Delta_{H}}u\quad =\quad K{u^{3}}\quad\,{\rm in}\,\,\Omega,\\ \quad\quad\,{u}\quad > \quad0\qquad\,\,\,\,{\rm in}\,\,\Omega,\\ \quad\quad\,{u}\quad = \quad 0 \quad\quad\,\,\,{\rm on}\,\partial \Omega, \end{array}\right. $$ where Δ _H is the sublaplacian on ${{\mathbb{H}^1}}$ and K is a C ³ positive function defined on Ω. Using a version of the Morse Lemma at infinity, we give necessary conditions on K to insure the existence of solutions for (P).     

Topological degree for solutions of fourth order mean field equations

We consider the following fourth order mean field equation with Navier boundary condition $$\Delta^2 u = \rho \frac{h(x) e^{u}}{\int_\Omega h e^{u}}\,\,{\rm in}\, \Omega,{\quad}u = \Delta u = 0\,\,{\rm on}\,\partial \Omega,\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad(*)$$ where h is a C ^2,?? positive function, ?? is a bounded and smooth domain in ${\mathbb{R}^4}$ . We prove that for ${\rho \in (32m\sigma_3, 32(m + 1)\sigma_3)}$ the degree-counting formula for (*) is given by $$d(\rho)=\left\{\begin{array}{ll}\frac{1}{m!} (-\chi (\Omega) +1) \cdot\cdot \cdot (-\chi(\Omega)+m) & {\rm for}\, m >0 ,\\ 1 & {\rm for}\, m=0\end{array}\right.$$ where ??(??) is the Euler characteristic of ??. Similar result is also proved for the corresponding Dirichlet problem $$\Delta^2 u = \rho \frac{h(x) e^{u}}{\int_\Omega h e^{u}}\quad{\rm in}\,\Omega, \quad u = \nabla u = 0 \quad {\rm on}\,\,\partial \Omega.\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad(**)$$      

Some remarks on quasilinear parabolic problems with singular potential and a reaction term

In this paper we deal with the following quasilinear parabolic problem $$\left\{\begin{array}{l@{\quad}l} (u^\theta)_t - \Delta_p {u} = \lambda \frac{u^{p - 1}}{|x|^{p}} + u^q + f,\,\, u \geq 0 \quad {\rm in} \;\;\Omega \times (0, T),\\ u(x, t) = 0 \quad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad {\rm on}\; \partial \Omega \times(0, T),\\ u(x, 0) = u_0(x), \,\,\, \qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad x \in\; \Omega,\end{array}\right.$$ where θ is either 1 or (p ? 1), \({N \geq 3, \,\Omega \subset \mathcal{IR}^N}\) is either a bounded regular domain containing the origin or \({\Omega \equiv \mathcal{IR}^N}\) , 1 < p < N, q > 0 and u ₀ ≥  0, f ≥  0 with suitable hypotheses. The aim of this work is to get natural conditions to show the existence or the nonexistence of nonnegative solutions. In the case of nonexistence result, we analyze blow-up phenomena for approximated problems in connection with the classical Harnack inequality, in the Moser sense, more precisely in connection with a strong maximum principle. We also study when finite time extinction (1 < p < 2) and finite speed propagation (p > 2) occur related to the reaction power.     

On the solutions of a singular elliptic equation concentrating on two orthogonal spheres

Let \({A=\{x\in \mathbb{R}^{2m}: 0 < a < |x| < b\}}\) be an annulus. We consider the following singularly perturbed elliptic problem on A $$\left\{\begin{array}{lll}-\varepsilon ^2{\Delta u} + |x|^{\eta}u =|x|^{\eta}u^p, \quad {\rm in} A,\\ u > 0, \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad {\rm in} A, \\ u=0, \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad {\rm on}\partial A,\end{array}\right. $$ where \({1 < p < \frac{m+3}{m-1}}\) . We shall prove the existence of a positive solution \({u_\epsilon }\) which concentrates on two different orthogonal spheres of dimension (m?1) as \({\varepsilon \to 0}\) . We achieve this by studying a reduced problem on an annular domain in \({\mathbb{R}^{m+1}}\) and analysing the profile of a two point concentrating solution in this domain.     

Global bifurcation for asymptotically linear Schrödinger equations

We prove global asymptotic bifurcation for a very general class of asymptotically linear Schrödinger equations ${\left\{\begin{array}{lll}\Delta u + f(x, u)u = \lambda u \quad {\rm in} \; \mathbb{R}^N,\ u \in H^1(\mathbb{R}^N) \backslash \{0\}, \quad N \; \geqslant \; 1.\qquad\qquad\qquad(1)\end{array}\right.}$ The method is topological, based on recent developments of degree theory. We use the inversion ${u\to v:= u/\Vert u\Vert_X^2}$ in an appropriate Sobolev space ${X=W^{2,p}(\mathbb{R}^{N}),}$ and we first obtain bifurcation from the line of trivial solutions for an auxiliary problem in the variables ${(\lambda,v) \in {\mathbb R}\times X.}$ This problem has a lack of compactness and of regularity, requiring a truncation procedure. Going back to the original problem, we obtain global branches of positive/negative solutions ‘bifurcating from infinity’. We believe that, for the values of λ covered by our bifurcation approach, the existence result we obtain for positive solutions of (1) is the most general so far.     

Multiple positive solutions of singular and critical elliptic problem in {\mathbb{R}^2} with discontinuous nonlinearities

Let Ω be a bounded domain in ${\mathbb{R}^2}$ with smooth boundary. We consider the following singular and critical elliptic problem with discontinuous nonlinearity: $$(P_\lambda)\left \{\begin{array}{ll} - \Delta u = \lambda \left(\frac{m(x, u) e^{\alpha{u}^2}}{|x|^{\beta}} + u^{q}g(u - a)\right),\quad{u} > 0 \quad {\rm in} \quad \Omega\\u \quad \quad = 0\quad {\rm on} \quad \partial \Omega \end{array}\right.$$ where ${0\leq q < 1 ,0< \alpha\leq4\pi}$ and ${\beta \in [0, 2)}$ such that ${\frac{\beta}{2} + \frac{\alpha}{4\pi} \leq 1}$ and ${{g(t - a) = \left\{\begin{array}{ll}1, t \leq a\\ 0, t > a.\end{array}\right.}}$ Under the suitable assumptions on m(x, t) we show the existence and multiplicity of solutions for maximal interval for λ.     

Existence and Multiplicity of Positive Solutions to a Quasilinear Elliptic Equation with Strong Allee Effect Growth Rate

In this paper we consider a p-Laplacian equation with strong Allee effect growth rate and Dirichlet boundary condition $$\left\{\begin{array}{ll} {\rm div} (|\nabla u|^{p-2} \nabla u) + \lambda f(x,u)=0, &\quad x \in \Omega, \\ u=0, &\quad x \in \partial \Omega, \qquad \qquad ^ {(P_\lambda)} \end{array}\right.$$ where Ω is a bounded smooth domain in ${\mathbb{R}^N}$ for ${N \ge 1, p > 1}$ , and λ is a positive parameter. By using variational methods and a suitable truncation technique, we prove that problem (P _λ) has at least two positive solutions for large parameter and it has no positive solutions for small parameter. In addition, a nonexistence result is investigated.     

Local estimates for parabolic equations with nonlinear gradient terms

In this paper we deal with local estimates for parabolic problems in ${\mathbb{R}^N}$ with absorbing first order terms, whose model is $$\left\{\begin{array}{l@{\quad}l}u_t- \Delta u +u |\nabla u|^q = f(t,x) \quad &{\rm in}\, (0,T) \times \mathbb{R}^N\,,\\u(0,x)= u_0 (x) &{\rm in}\, \mathbb{R}^N \,,\quad\end{array}\right.$$ where ${T >0 , \, N\geq 2,\, 1 < q \leq 2,\, f(t,x)\in L^1\left( 0,T; L^1_{\rm loc} \left(\mathbb{R}^N\right)\right)}$ and ${u_0\in L^1_{\rm loc}\left(\mathbb{R}^{N}\right)}$ .     

Existence and multiplicity results for Pucci’s operators involving nonlinearities with zeros

We study the problem $$ \left\{\begin{array}{ll} {-\varepsilon^{2}\mathcal{M}^+_{\lambda,\Lambda}(D^{2}u) = f (x, u)} \quad\; {\rm in} \; \Omega,\\ {u = 0} \quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad {\rm on} \; \partial{\Omega}, \end{array} \right.$$ where Ω is a smooth bounded domain in ${\mathbb{R}^{N},N > 2,}$ and show it possesses nontrivial solutions for small values of ε provided f is a nonnegative continuous function which has a positive zero. The multiplicity result is based on degree theory together with a new Liouville type theorem for ${-{M}^+_{\lambda,\Lambda}(D^{2}u) = f(u)}$ in ${\mathbb{R}^{N}}$ for nonnegative nonlinearities with zeros.     

Exact multiplicity results for a singularly perturbed Neumann problem

In this paper we study the number of the boundary single peak solutions of the problem $$\left\{\begin{array}{ll} -\varepsilon^{2} \Delta u + u = u^{p}, \quad {\rm in}\, \Omega \\ u > 0, \quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad {\rm in}\, \Omega \\ \frac{\partial u}{\partial {\nu}} = 0, \quad\quad\quad\quad\quad\,\,\, {\rm on}\, \partial {\Omega}\end{array}\right.$$ for ${\varepsilon}$ small and p subcritical. Under some suitable assumptions on the shape of the boundary near a critical point of the mean curvature, we are able to prove exact multiplicity results. Note that the degeneracy of the critical point is allowed.     

A priori estimates for a class of degenerate elliptic equations

In this paper we investigate the regularity of solutions for the following degenerate partial differential equation $$\left \{\begin{array}{ll} -\Delta_p u + u = f \qquad {\rm in} \,\Omega,\\ \frac{\partial u}{\partial \nu} = 0 \qquad \qquad \,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\, {\rm on} \,\partial \Omega, \end{array}\right.$$ when ${f \in L^q(\Omega), p > 2}$ and q ≥ 2. If u is a weak solution in ${W^{1, p}(\Omega)}$ , we obtain estimates for u in the Nikolskii space ${\mathcal{N}^{1+2/r,r}(\Omega)}$ , where r = q(p ? 2) + 2, in terms of the L ^q norm of f. In particular, due to imbedding theorems of Nikolskii spaces into Sobolev spaces, we conclude that ${\|u\|^r_{W^{1 + 2/r - \epsilon, r}(\Omega)} \leq C(\|f\|_{L^q(\Omega)}^q + \| f\|^{r}_{L^q(\Omega)} + \|f\|^{2r/p}_{L^q(\Omega)})}$ for every ${\epsilon > 0}$ sufficiently small. Moreover, we prove that the resolvent operator is continuous and compact in ${W^{1,r}(\Omega)}$ .     

Multiple solutions for nonhomogeneous Schrödinger–Maxwell and Klein– Gordon–Maxwell equations on R 3

In this paper we study the following nonhomogeneous Schrödinger–Maxwell equations $\left\{\begin{array}{ll} {-\triangle u+V(x)u+ \phi u=f(x,u)+h(x),} \quad {\rm in}\,\,\,{\mathbf{R}}^3,\\ {-\triangle \phi=u^2, \qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\,\,\, {\rm in} \,\,{\mathbf{R}}^3,} \end{array} \right.$ where f satisfies the Ambrosetti–Rabinowitz type condition. Under appropriate assumptions on V, f and h, the existence of multiple solutions is proved by using the Ekeland’s variational principle and the Mountain Pass Theorem in critical point theory. Similar results for the nonhomogeneous Klein–Gordon–Maxwell equations $\left\{\begin{array}{ll} {-\triangle u+[m^2-(\omega+\phi)^2]u=|u|^{q-2}u+h(x), \quad {\rm in} \,\,\,{\mathbf{R}}^3,}\\ {-\triangle \phi+ \phi u^2=-\omega u^2, \qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\,\,\, {\rm in} \,\,\,{\mathbf{R}}^3,} \end{array} \right.$ are also obtained when 2 < q < 6.