\(W^{1,p}_0\) versus \(C^1\) local minimizers for a singular and critical functional (Q1046523)

Let \(\Omega \subset\mathbb R^N\) with \(N\geq 2\) be a bounded smooth domain, consider the following quasilinear problem: \[ -\triangle_p u =g(u) +f(x,u), \quad u>0 \quad\text{in } \Omega \qquad\text{and }\;u|_{\partial \Omega} = 0, \quad p\in (1,+\infty), \] where \(g(s)\in C(\mathbb R^+,\mathbb R^+)\) is singular at \(s=0\) and \(f \in C^1({\overline \Omega}\times\mathbb R,\mathbb R)\) which may have Sobolev critical growth. Under some further conditions on \(f\) and \(g\), the authors prove that any \(C^1({\overline \Omega})\cap C_0({\overline \Omega})\) local minimizer for the associated variational functional of the above problem is also a local minimizer for the functional in \(W_0^{1,p}(\Omega)\).