On the existence of sign changing solutions for semilinear Dirichlet problems (Q1380887)

The authors consider the semilinear Dirichlet problem \[ -\Delta u=f(u)\text{ in }\Omega,\;u=0\text{ on }\partial \Omega,\tag{1} \] where \(\Omega\) is a bounded domain in \(\mathbb{R}^N\) and \(f:\mathbb{R} \to\mathbb{R}\) is a nonlinearity of class \(C^1\) with \(f(0)=0\). Under various assumptions, involving the position of \(f'(0)\) with respect to the spectrum of \(-\Delta\) and the behaviour of \(f\) at infinity, they deduce the existence of a sign-changing solution \(u_1\) to (1) and establish several comparison results between \(u_1\) and the other solutions of (1). The existence of sign-changing solutions has been already proved, in more particular cases, by \textit{A. Castro}, \textit{J. Cossio} and \textit{J. M. Neuberger} [Rocky Mountain J. Math. 27, 1041-1053 (1997)]. The proofs are based on new techniques of Morse theory in partially ordered Hilbert spaces. Variational methods in partially ordered spaces were also developed by \textit{H. Hofer} [Math. Ann. 261, 493-514 (1982; Zbl 0488.47034)].