Self-similar solutions for a convection-diffusion equation with absorption inR N

We prove the existence of a positive and smooth solution for the following semilinear elliptic problem: % MathType!End!2!1! for anya∈R ^N , 1<p<1+2/N andq=(p+1)/2. This solution decays exponentially as |x|→+∞. Moreover, if |a| is sufficiently small, this positive and rapidly decaying solution is unique. The existence of a positive, self-similar solution % MathType!End!2!1! follows for the following convection-diffusion equation with absorption: % MathType!End!2!1!. It is also a very singular solution. This solution decays as |x|→+∞ for anyt>0 fixed. Because of the nonvariational nature of the elliptic problem, a fixed point method is used for proving the existence result. The uniqueness is proved applying the Implicit Function Theorem. The work of the first author has been partially supported by Grant 1273/00003/88 of the University of the Basque Country. The work of the second author has been supported by Grant PB 86-0112-C02-00 of the Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica.