Multiple solutions of quasilinear equations involving an area-type term (Q1910114): Difference between revisions

Let \(\Omega\) be a bounded open subset of \(\mathbb{R}^n\) with Lipschitz boundary. The author considers a class of functionals \(f: \text{BV}(\Omega)\to \mathbb{R}\) obtained by the relaxation of functionals of the form \[ f(u)= \int_\Omega \Psi(\nabla u) dx- \int_\Omega G(x, u) dx. \] The model example is constituted by \[ f(u)= \int_\Omega \sqrt{1+ |\nabla u|^2} dx- {1\over p} \int_\Omega |u|^p dx \] with \(1< p< n/(n- 1)\). In the main result, he proves the existence of a sequence \((u_h)\) of (generalized) critical points of \(f\) with \(f(u_h)\to + \infty\). This may be considered as a BV-analogue of a well-known result of \textit{A. Ambrosetti} and \textit{P. H. Rabinowitz} [J. Funct. Anal. 14, 349-381 (1973; Zbl 0273.49063)] concerning functionals \(f: W^{1, 2}_0(\Omega)\to \mathbb{R}\) modeled on \[ f(u)= {1\over 2} \int_\Omega |\nabla u|^2 dx- {1\over p} \int_\Omega |u|^p dx \] with \(2< p< 2n/(n- 2)\). However, in the BV-case, a lack in the Palais-Smale condition appears, which is overcome by considering the functional on the space \(L^p\). Thus the question is reduced to an abstract result of Ambrosetti-Rabinowitz type for lower semicontinuous functions, where the author improves a previous result of \textit{A. Szulkin} [Ann. Inst. Henri Poincaré, Anal. Non Linéaire 3, 77-109 (1986; Zbl 0612.58011)]. The main tool is constituted by the nonsmooth critical point theory developed by \textit{J.-N. Corvellec}, the author and the reviewer [Topol. Methods Nonlinear Anal. 1, No. 1, 151-171 (1993; Zbl 0789.58021)].