Nonlinearity and nontrivial solutions of fourth order semilinear elliptic equations. (Q1426992)

The authors study a relation between the multiplicity of solutions and nonlinear terms in a fourth-order semilinear elliptic equation \[ \begin{cases} \Delta^2 u+ c\Delta u= b_1[(u+ 1)^+- 1]+ b_2 u^+\quad &\text{in }\Omega,\\ u= 0,\;\Delta u= 0\quad &\text{on }\partial\Omega,\end{cases}\tag{1} \] where \(\Delta^2\) denote the biharmonic operator, \(u^+= \max\{u,0\}\), \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^N\) is a smooth open bounded set. Here \(\lambda_1< c<\lambda_2\), where \(\{\lambda_k\}_{k\geq 1}\) denote the sequence of eigenvalue of \(-\Delta\) in \(H^1_0(\Omega)\) and \(b_1\), \(b_2\) are not eigenvalue of \(\Delta^2+ c\Delta\). To prove existence and multiplicity of solutions for (1), the authors use the variation of linking theorem.