Bounds on the number of solutions for elliptic equations with polynomial nonlinearities (Q1283981)

This article concerns the number of solutions \(u\) to semilinear Neumann problems of type \[ \Delta u= \sum^n_{j= 0} g_ju^j\quad\text{in }\Omega,\quad \nu\cdot\nabla u|_{\partial\Omega}= 0\tag{1} \] in a bounded domain \(\Omega\) in \(\mathbb{R}^N\) with smooth boundary, where \(\nu\) denotes a unit normal vector to \(\partial\Omega\), \(n\geq 3\) is an odd positive integer, each \(g_j\in C^\alpha(\Omega, \mathbb{R})\) for \(\alpha\in (0,1)\), and \(g_n(x)\geq 1\) for all \(x\in\Omega\). If \(\sup_\Omega|g_j|\) is sufficiently small for each \(j= 1,\dots, n-1\), the main theorem states that (1) has at most \(n\) solutions. Under special conditions, (1) has exactly \(n\) solutions. The proof employs a Lyapunov-Schmidt procedure to reduce (1) to a one-dimensional problem. Related results have been obtained by \textit{A. Nabutovsky} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 332, No. 1, 135-166 (1992; Zbl 0762.35033)] and the author [Ann. Sc. Norm. Super. Pisa, Cl. Sci., IV. Ser. 17, 1-33 (1990; Zbl 0725.35043)].