Classification of positive singular solutions to a nonlinear biharmonic equation with critical exponent (Q1630544)

The aim of the paper are all positive solutions $u$ of \[ \Delta^2 u = u^{(n+4)/(n-4)}\quad \text{in}\quad \mathbb{R}^n \setminus \{ 0 \} \] for $n \ge 5$ with nonremovable singularity at the origin. It follows by a short computation with $ u(x) = |x|^{-(n-4)/2}v(\ln |x|) $ that this biharmonic equation is equivalent to the following ordinary differential equation \[ v^{(4)} - \frac{n(n-4)+8}{2}v''+ \frac{n^2(n-4)^2}{16}v - |v|^{8/(n-4)}v = 0 \quad\text{in} \quad\mathbb{R}. \] Basing on this it is possible to give a classification of positive solutions $u$ of the biharmonic equation with nonremovable singularities in terms of a two-parameter family. There are several applications: Firstly it follows the asymptotic behavior near the origin of positive solutions of the biharmonic equation and secondly the result is helpful in the construction of constant Q-curvature metrics with isolated singularities.