A priori bounds and multiplicity for fully nonlinear equations with quadratic growth in the gradient (Q1715466)

Nonlinear uniformly elliptic equations with quadratic growth in the gradient \[ -F(x,u, Du, D^2 u) = \lambda c(x)u + \langle M(x)Du, Du \rangle + h(x)\text{ in }\Omega, \] \[ u = 0\text{ on }\partial\Omega, \] are investigated, where \(\Omega\) is a bounded \(C^{1,1}\) domain in \(\mathbb R^n\), \(\lambda \in \mathbb R\), \(n \ge 1\), \(c, h \in L^p (\Omega)\), \(p>n\), \(M\) is a bounded matrix, and \(F\) is a fully nonlinear uniformly elliptic operator of Isaacs type. This problem was studied in the ``coercive'' case (\(\lambda c \le 0\)), where uniqueness of solutions can be expected. It was conjectured that the solution set is more complex for non-coercive equations. This conjecture was verified by \textit{D. Arcoya} et al. [J. Funct. Anal. 268, No. 8, 2298--2335 (2015; Zbl 1322.35025)] for equations in divergence form, by exploiting the integral formulation of the problem. Similar phenomena occur for general, even fully nonlinear, equations in non-divergence form. In the paper, different techniques based on the maximum principle are used. A new method to obtain the crucial uniform a priori bounds, which permit to use degree theory is developed. This method is based on basic regularity estimates such as half-Harnack inequalities, and on a Vázquez type strong maximum principle.