Second order estimates for large solutions of elliptic equations

This paper deals with the second term asymptotic behavior of large solutions to the problems Δu=b(x)f(u), x∈Ω, subject to the singular boundary condition u(x)=∞, x∈∂Ω, where Ω is a smooth bounded domain in R^N, and b(x) is a non-negative weight function. The absorption term f is regularly varying at infinite with index ρ>1 (that is lim_u→∞f(ξu)/f(u)=ξ^ρ for every ξ>0) and the mapping f(u)/u is increasing on (0,+∞). Our analysis relies on the Karamata regular variation theory.