On global bifurcation of variational inequalities and applications (Q1377522)

The article is the continuation of the author's earlier work [\textit{V. K. Le}, J. Differ. Equations 131, No. 1, 39-78 (1996; Zbl 0863.49008)] where a general topological degree approach for bifurcation problems concerning variational inequalities was proposed. The suggested method consists of associating the original nonlinear nonsmooth variational inequality with a homogeneous one playing the same role as linearizations in the smooth case. Here, the main subject is the bifurcation of variational inequalities when their homogenizations are not equations. It is established that if the spectral parameter passes through a simple eigenvalue of the homogenized variational inequality, the corresponding topological degrees change, resulting in global bifurcation of the original variational inequality. The article is primarily concerned with global behaviour of the bifurcation branches, namely the analogues of the known Rabinowitz alternative for variational inequalities [\textit{P. H. Rabinowitz}, J. Funct. Anal. 7, 487-513 (1971; Zbl 0212.16504)]. Also, the inequalities are considered in a general setting: they may be defined on convex sets (not necessarily convex cones) or may contain convex nonhomogeneous functionals. The application to buckling problems for an elastic beam subject to unilateral constraints is given. The references give a detailed review of preceding results.