Existence and concentration of solutions for the Schrödinger-Poisson equations with steep well potential (Q389917)

The authors study the following system of Schrödinger-Poisson equations \[ \begin{cases} -\Delta u+\lambda V(x)u+K(x)\phi u=|u|^{p-2}u \,\, &\text{ in}\,\, \mathbb{R}^3,\\ -\Delta \phi=K(x)u^2 \,\, &\text{ in}\,\, \mathbb{R}^3.\end{cases} \] Here, \(p\in (2,6)\), \(\lambda\in (0,+\infty)\) and the functions \(K,V:\mathbb{R}^3\rightarrow \mathbb{R}\) satisfy the following assumptions - \(V\) is continuous and bounded below on \(\mathbb{R}^3\), - the set \(\{x\in \mathbb{R}^3: V(x)<b\}\) is nonempty and has finite measure for some \(b\in (0,+\infty)\), - \(\mathrm{int} (V^{-1}(0))\) is nonempty, has smooth boundary, and \(\overline{\mathrm{int} (V^{-1}(0))}=V^{-1}(0)\), - \(K\in L^2(\mathbb{R}^3)\) or \(K\in L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^3)\). For \(p\in (4,6)\) and \(K\) positive in \(\mathbb{R}^3\), the authors prove that, under the above assumptions, there exists \(\Lambda>0\) with the following property: for each \(\lambda>\Lambda\) there exists \(k_\lambda^*>0\) such that if \(\|K\|_{L^2(\mathbb{R}^3)}<k_\lambda^*\) (or \(\|K\|_{L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^3)}<k_\lambda^*\)), the system admits at least a solution \((u_\lambda,\phi_\lambda)\in H^1(\mathbb{R}^3)\times D^{1,2}(\mathbb{R}^3)\). If \(V\) is nonnegative in \(\mathbb{R}^3\), the authors prove that the above conclusion holds with \(K\) nonnegative in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) and no restriction on \(\|K\|_{L^2(\mathbb{R}^3)}\) or \(\|K\|_{L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^3)}\). Moreover, if the assumption \(K\in L^2(\mathbb{R}^3)\) is replaced by \(K\in L^2(\mathbb{R}^3)\cap L^\infty_{\mathrm{loc}} (\mathbb{R}^3)\), then the solution \((u_\lambda,\phi_\lambda)\) exists for large \(\lambda\) also for \(p=4\). For \(p\in (3,4)\) and \(K,V\) weakly differentiable and nonnegative in \(\mathbb{R}^3\), the authors prove the existence of a solution for large \(\lambda\) provided that \(K\in L^2(\mathbb{R}^3)\cap L^\infty_{\mathrm{loc}} (\mathbb{R}^3)\) and certain additional technical conditions involving the gradients of \(V\) and \(K\) are satisfied. As a final result, the authors study the behavior of the solution \((u_\lambda,\phi_\lambda)\) as \(\lambda\rightarrow +\infty\). They prove that \((u_\lambda,\phi_\lambda)\rightarrow (\overline{u},\phi_{\overline{u}})\) in \(H^1(\mathbb{R}^3)\times D^{1,2}(\mathbb{R}^3)\), where \(\overline{u}\in H_0^1(\mathrm{int} (V^{-1}(0)))\) is a nontrivial solution of the boundary value problem \[ \begin{cases} -\Delta u+\frac{1}{4\pi}\left((K(x)u^2)*\frac{1}{|x|}\right)K(x)u=|u|^{p-2}u, \,\,&\text{ in}\,\, \mathrm{int} (V^{-1}(0)),\\ u=0 \,\,&\text{on}\,\, \partial\mathrm{int} (V^{-1}(0)).\end{cases} \] The proofs of the existence results are based on variational methods. In particular, if \(V\) is sign-changing, a linking theorem is applied, while if \(V\) is nonnegative the existence of a solution is obtained via the classical Mountain Pass Theorem.