Monotone perturbations of the laplacian inL 1(R N )

The semilinear perturbation of Poisson’s equation (E): −Δu+β(u)∋f, where β is a maximal monotone graph inR, has been investigated by Ph. Bénilan, H. Brézis and M. Crandall forf∈L ¹(R ^N ),N≧1, under the assumptions 0∈β(0) ifN≧3 and 0∈β(0) ∩ Int β(R) ifN=1,2. We discuss in this paper the solvability and well-posedness of (E) in terms of any maximal monotone graph β. In particular, if β takes only positive values andN≧3 we prove that no solution exists; ifN=2 we give necessary and sufficient conditions on β andf for (E) to be solvable in a natural sense.