Coexistence states for systems of mutualist species (Q1766689)

The author studies the system of semilinear elliptic equations \[ \begin{aligned} -\Delta u & =\lambda u+f(u)+buv,\qquad x\in\Omega,\\ -\Delta v & =\mu v+g(v)+cuv,\qquad x\in\Omega,\tag{e3}\\ u & =0,\qquad v=0,\qquad x\in\partial\Omega, \end{aligned} \] where \(\lambda,\mu\in\mathbb{R}\) are bifurcation parameters, \(b,c>0,\) \(f,g\) are functions, continuous on \([0,+\infty)\), satisfying certain additional conditions. The system ({e3}) models coexistence of two species with densities \(u(x)\) and \(v(x)\) inhabiting the region \(\Omega\) surrounded by inhospitable areas, \(b\) and \(c\) being supporting rates between the species. The purpose of the paper is to explore existence, stability and multiplicity of nonnegative solutions \(\left( u,v\right) \) of the system ({e3}). Using the strong maximum principle, the author establishes in Section 2 existence of three types of nonnegative solutions: the trivial solution \((0,0);\) {semi-trivial} positive solutions \((u,0)\) and \((0,v)\) with one positive and one zero component; and {coexistence states} \((u,v)\) with both components positive. In Section 3, the result characterizing the linearized stability of semi-trivial states is proved and the global behavior of the curves in the \((\lambda,\mu)\)-plane on which stability of the semi-trivial solutions changes is studied. A bifurcation result for the coexistence is provided in Section~4. Coexistence regions for the system ({e3}) are studied in Section 5. Finally, the structure of the sets of bifurcation parameters for which the system ({e3}) possesses a coexistence state is examined in Section 6.