We obtain a description of the Fučik spectrum associated to the one-dimensional asymmetric problem with indefinite weights $Lu = am(t)u^+ - bn(t)u^-$ in $]T_1, T_2[$, $u'(T_1) = 0 = u'(T_2)$, where $L$ is a Sturm-Liouville operator. Our approach is based on the shooting method.
We prove the existence of a pair of positive radial solutions for the Neumann boundary value problem \begin{equation*} \begin{cases} \, \mathrm{div}\,\Biggl{(} \dfrac{\nabla u}{\sqrt{1- | \nabla u |^{2}}}\Biggr{)} + λa(|x|)u^p = 0, & \text{in $B$,} \\ \, \partial_νu=0, & \text{on $\partial B$,} \end{cases} \end{equation*} where $B$ is a ball centered at the origin, $a(|x|)$ is a radial sign-changing function with $\int_B a(|x|)\,\mathrm{d}x < 0$, $p>1$ and $λ> 0$ is a large parameter. The proof is based on the Leray-Schauder degree theory and extends to a larger class of nonlinearities.
We study the second-order boundary value problem \begin{equation*} \begin{cases} \, -u''=a_{λ,μ}(t) \, u^{2}(1-u), & t\in(0,1), \\ \, u'(0)=0, \quad u'(1)=0, \end{cases} \end{equation*} where $a_{λ,μ}$ is a step-wise indefinite weight function, precisely $a_{λ,μ}\equivλ$ in $[0,σ]\cup[1-σ,1]$ and $a_{λ,μ}\equiv-μ$ in $(σ,1-σ)$, for some $σ\in\left(0,\frac{1}{2}\right)$, with $λ$ and $μ$ positive real parameters. We investigate the topological structure of the set of positive solutions which lie in $(0,1)$ as $λ$ and $μ$ vary. Depending on $λ$ and based on a phase-plane analysis and on time-map…
We study the positive principal eigenvalue of a weighted problem associated with the Neumann spectral fractional Laplacian. This analysis is related to the investigation of the survival threshold in population dynamics. Our main result concerns the optimization of such threshold with respect to the fractional order $s\in(0,1]$, the case $s=1$ corresponding to the standard Neumann Laplacian: when the habitat is not too fragmented, the principal positive eigenvalue can not have local minima for $0<s<1$. As a consequence, the best strategy for survival is either following the diffusion with $s=1$…
We investigate the problem $$-Δu = λb(x)|u|^{q-2}u +a(x)|u|^{p-2}u \mbox{ in } Ω, \quad \frac{\partial u}{\partial \mathbf{n}} = 0 \mbox{ on } \partial Ω, \leqno{(P_λ)} $$ where $Ω$ is a bounded smooth domain in $\mathbb{R}^N$ ($N \geq2$), $1<q<2<p$, $λ\in \mathbb{R}$, and $a,b \in C^α(\overlineΩ)$ with $0<α<1$. Under some indefinite type conditions on $a$ and $b$ we prove the existence of two nontrivial non-negative solutions for $|λ|$ small. We characterize then the asymptotic profiles of these solutions as $λ\to 0$, which implies in some cases the positivity and ordering of these solutions.…
The aim of this paper is analyzing existence, multiplicity, and regularity issues for the positive solutions of a Neumann boundary value problem of superlinear indefinite type related to the mean curvature operator with a sublinear potential at infinity.
We study the minimization of the positive principal eigenvalue associated to a weighted Neumann problem settled in a bounded smooth domain $Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^{N}$, within a suitable class of sign-changing weights. Denoting with $u$ the optimal eigenfunction and with $D$ its super-level set associated to the optimal weight, we perform the analysis of the singular limit of the optimal eigenvalue as the measure of $D $ tends to zero. We show that, when the measure of $D$ is sufficiently small, $u $ has a unique local maximum point lying on the boundary of $Ω$ and $D$ is connected. Furthermore, …
Let $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^{N}$ ($N\geq1$) be a bounded and smooth domain and $a:Ω\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ be a sign-changing weight satisfying $\int_Ωa<0$. We prove the existence of a positive solution $u_{q}$ for the problem $(P_{a,q})$: $-Δu=a(x)u^{q}$ in $Ω$, $\frac{\partial u}{\partialν}=0$ on $\partialΩ$, if $q_{0}<q<1$, for some $q_{0}=q_{0}(a)>0$. In doing so, we improve the existence result previously established in [16]. In addition, we provide the asymptotic behavior of $u_{q}$ as $q\rightarrow1^{-}$. When $Ω$ is a ball and $a$ is radial, we give some explicit conditions on $q$ and $a$ e…
We establish a positivity property for a class of semilinear elliptic problems involving indefinite sublinear nonlinearities. Namely, we show that any nontrivial nonnegative solution is positive for a class of problems the strong maximum principle does not apply to. Our approach is based on a continuity argument combined with variational techniques, the sub and supersolutions method and some a priori bounds. Both Dirichlet and Neumann homogeneous boundary conditions are considered. As a byproduct, we deduce some existence and uniqueness results. Finally, as an application, we derive some posit…
We prove the existence of a loop type component of non-negative solutions for an indefinite elliptic equation with homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions. This result complements our previous results obtained in [12], where the existence of another loop type component was established in a different situation. Our proof combines local and global bifurcation theory, rescaling and regularizing arguments, a priori bounds, and Whyburn's topological method. A further investigation of the loop type component established in [12] is also provided.
In this paper, we are interested in the analysis of a well-known free boundary/shape optimization problem motivated by some issues arising in population dynamics. The question is to determine optimal spatial arrangements of favorable and unfavorable regions for a species to survive. The mathematical formulation of the model leads to an indefinite weight linear eigenvalueproblem in a fixed box $Ω$ and we consider the general case of Robin boundary conditions on $\partialΩ$. It is well known that it suffices to consider {\it bang-bang} weights taking two values of different signs, that can be pa…
We consider the problem $$ (P_λ)\quad -Δ_{p}u=λu^{p-1}+a(x)u^{q-1},\quad u\geq0\quad\mbox{ in }Ω$$ under Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions. Here $Ω$ is a smooth bounded domain of $\mathbb{R}^{N}$ ($N\geq1$), $λ\in\mathbb{R}$, $1<q<p$, and $a\in C(\overlineΩ)$ changes sign. These conditions enable the existence of dead core solutions for this problem, which may admit multiple nontrivial solutions. We show that for $λ<0$ the functional \[ I_λ(u):=\int_Ω\left( \frac{1}{p}|\nabla u|^{p}-\frac{λ}{p}|u|^{p}-\frac{1}{q}a(x)|u|^{q}\right) , \] defined in $X=W_{0}^{1,p}(Ω)$ or $X=W^{1,p}(Ω)$, ha…
Let $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^{N}$ ($N\geq1$) be a smooth bounded domain, $a\in C(\barΩ)$ a sign-changing function, and $0\leq q<1$. We investigate the Robin problem \[ \begin{cases} -Δu=a(x)u^{q} & \mbox{in $Ω$},\\ u\geq0 & \mbox{in $Ω$},\\ \partial_νu=αu & \mbox{on $\partial Ω$}, \end{cases} \] where $α\in\lbrack-\infty,\infty)$ and $ν$ is the unit outward normal to $\partialΩ$. Due to the lack of strong maximum principle structure, this problem may have \textit{dead core} solutions. However, for a large class of weights $a$ we recover a \textit{positivity} property when $q$ is close to $1$, which…
We study the optimization of the positive principal eigenvalue of an indefinite weighted problem, associated with the Neumann Laplacian in a box $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^N$, which arises in the investigation of the survival threshold in population dynamics. When trying to minimize such eigenvalue with respect to the weight, one is lead to consider a shape optimization problem, which is known to admit no spherical optimal shapes (despite some previously stated conjectures). We investigate whether spherical shapes can be recovered in some singular perturbation limit. More precisely we show that, when…