Homoclinics for singular strong force Lagrangian systems (Q2323116)

The authors study the existence of homoclinic solutions for the following class of Lagrangian systems: \[ \frac{d}{dt}\left(\nabla \Phi(\dot{u}(t))\right) +\nabla_u V(t,u(t)) = 0,\] \[ \lim_{t\rightarrow \pm \infty}u(t)=\lim_{t\rightarrow \pm \infty}\dot{u}(t) = 0, \] where \(t\in \mathbb{R}\), \(\Phi:\mathbb{R}^n\rightarrow [0,\infty)\) is a \(G\)-function in the sense of \textit{N. S. Trudinger} [Stud. Math. 50, 17--30 (1974; Zbl 0247.46052)], and \(V:\mathbb{R}\times\left(\mathbb{R}^n\setminus\{\xi\}\right)\rightarrow \mathbb{R}\) is a \(C^1\) smooth potential possessing a single well of infinite depth at a point \(\xi\in \mathbb{R}^n\setminus \{0\}\) and a strict global maximum \(0\) at the origin. Note that a similar investigation for a system such that \(\Phi(x)=\frac{1}{2}|x|^2\), \(x\in \mathbb{R}^2\), was done by \textit{P. H. Rabinowitz} [in: Geometric analysis and the calculus of variations. Cambridge, MA: International Press. 267--296 (1996; Zbl 0936.37035)], who already noticed the role and importance of the strong force condition introduced by \textit{W. B. Gordon} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 204, 113--135 (1975; Zbl 0276.58005)]. Both the Rabinowitz theorem and Theorem 1.2 of the paper under review are variational in nature. The main contribution of the present authors is a series of technical results proved in Section 2 which provides a correct framework which enables them to treat the above problem as an action functional minimizing problem in an appropriate Sobolev-Orlicz space. The proof of Theorem 1.2 is then completed in Section 3, where the authors find two minimizers of the action functional winding around the singularity in opposite directions.