Existence of radial solutions to biharmonic \(k\)-Hessian equations (Q2351972)

The authors study the problem of radial solutions to fourth order elliptic equations of the form \[ \Delta^2 u=S_2[u]+\lambda f(x)\text{ for}\quad x\in B_1(0)\subset{\mathbb R}^N, \] where \(S_2[u]\) is the \(2\)-Hessian of \(u\) (see e.g. [\textit{L. Caffarelli} et al., Acta Math. 155, 261--301 (1985; Zbl 0654.35031)], [\textit{K.-S. Chou} and \textit{X.-J. Wang}, Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 54, No. 9, 1029--1064 (2001; Zbl 1035.35037)]), \(\lambda\in{\mathbb R}\), \(f\) is an integrable function in \(B_1(0)\) and \(N=2\) or \( 3\). Dirichlet or Navier boundary conditions are considered. By integration and a change of the independent variable \(s=e^{-t}\), the problem is transformed into an equivalent one in the half-line. For instance, in the case of Dirichlet boundary conditions the new problem is written as \[ -w''+(N-2)w'+(N-1)w=\frac{N-1}{2}e^{-t}w^2+\lambda e^{(N-3)t} \int_0^{e^{-t}}g(s)\,ds,\quad w(0)=w(+\infty)=0. \] The main results state the existence of at least one solution of the original problem in \(C^3([0,1])\cap W^{4,1}([0,1],r^{N-1}dr)\), provided that \(|\lambda|\) is small or \(\lambda\) is large and negative. The proofs depend on a series of estimates and the contraction principle in the Sobolev space \(H^1\) of the half-line with respect to the weight function \(e^{(2-N)t}\). Alternatively, upper and lower solutions may be used, taking advantage of the positivity of the operator \(-w''+(N-2)w'+(N-1)w\). Non-existence in cases where \(\lambda>0\) is large is also obtained.