Concentration with a single sign-changing layer at the higher critical exponents (Q1661691)

The authors study the asymptotic behavior of solutions to the problem \[ \begin{cases} -\Delta u=\lambda u+|u|^{p-2}u & \text{ in }\Omega,\\ u=0 & \text{ on } \partial \Omega, \end{cases}\eqno{(P_{\lambda,p})} \] as \(p\) tends from below to the \((m + 1)\)-th critical exponent \(2^*_{N,m}:=\frac{2(N-m)}{N-m-2}\). Here, \(\lambda\) is a real parameter, \(m, N\) are integers such that \(1\leq m \leq N-3\), and \(\Omega\) is a smooth domain in \(\mathbb{R}^N\) having the form \[ \Omega=\big\{(x_1,x_2)\in \mathbb{R}^{m+1}\times \mathbb{R}^{N-m-1} : (|x_1|,x_2)\in \Theta \big\}, \] where \(\Theta\) is a smooth domain such that \(\overline{\Theta}\subset (0,\infty)\times \mathbb{R}^{N-m-1}\), with the following properties: there is a closed subgroup \(\Gamma\) of the group \(O(N-m+1)\) of linear isometries of \(\mathbb{R}^{N-m-1}\), acting on the last \(N-m-1\) coordinates of \(\mathbb{R}^{N-m}\), such that: -- \(\Theta\) is \(\Gamma\)-invariant, -- the set \(\Theta^\Gamma\) of all \(\Gamma\)-fixed points in \(\Theta\) is nonempty, -- every \(\Gamma\)-orbit in \(\Theta\) is either infinite or a \(\Gamma\)-fixed point, -- \(\Theta^\Gamma\) and \(\Theta\) have the same distance from \(\{0\}\times \mathbb{R}^{N-m-1}\). Under the above conditions on \(\Omega\), the authors prove the following result: Let \(\phi:\Gamma \rightarrow \mathbb{Z}/2\) be a continuous surjective homomorphism of groups whose kernel contains the set \(\{\gamma: \gamma \xi =\xi\}\), for some \(\xi \in \Theta\). Then, there is \(\lambda^*\geq 0\) such that, for every \(\lambda \in \{0\}\cup (-\infty, \lambda^*)\), there exist: -- a sequence \(\{p_k\}\) in \((0,2^*_{N,m})\) converging to \(2^*_{N,m}\), -- a sequence \(\{\zeta_k\}\) in \(\Theta^{\Gamma}\) converging to a point \(\zeta \in \partial \Theta\) such that \[ \mathrm{dist}(\zeta,\{0\}\times\mathbb{R}^{N-m-1})= \mathrm{dist}(\Theta,\{0\}\times\mathbb{R}^{N-m-1}), \] -- a sequence \(\{\epsilon_k\}\) in \((0,\infty)\) such that \(\epsilon_k^{-1}\)dist\((\zeta_k,\Theta)\rightarrow \infty\), -- a sign-changing solution \(w\) of the critical problem \[ -\Delta u = |u|^{\frac{4}{N-m-2}}u, \;\;u\in D^{1,2}(\mathbb{R}^{N-m}), \] satisfying \[ w(\gamma x)=\phi(\gamma)w(x), \;\;\;\forall\gamma \in \Gamma, \;\;\;\forall x\in \mathbb{R}^{N-m}, \] with minimal energy among all such solutions, -- a sequence \(\{u_k\}\) of solutions to \((P_{\lambda,p_k})\) such that \[ u_k(\rho x_1, \gamma x_2)=\phi(\gamma) u_k(x_1,x_2), \;\;\;\;\forall(x_1,x_2)\in \Omega, \;\;\forall\rho\in O(m+1) \;\;\forall\gamma \in \Gamma, \] and \[ u_k=\varepsilon_k^{\frac{2-N+m}{2}}w\biggl(\frac{(|x_1|,x_2)-\zeta_k}{\varepsilon_k}\biggr)+o(1), \;\;\;\;\text{in} \;\;D^{1,2}(\mathbb{R}^{N-m}). \] The above properties say that the solutions \(u_k\) exhibit a concentration and blow up phenomenon along an \(m\)-dimensional sphere of minimal radius contained \(\partial \Omega\), forming a single sign-changing layer. The proof is carried out by reducing problem \((P_{\lambda,p})\) to an anisotropic subcritical problem in \(\Theta\) and using a non-existence result of minimal energy solutions for this problem in the critical case.