Bubbling solutions for Moser-Trudinger type equations on compact Riemann surfaces (Q1785771)

The Moser-Trudinger inequality, when applied on a compact Riemannian surface \((S,g)\), says that \(\int_S e^{4\pi u^2}\) can be bounded by a constant times \(\int_S|\nabla u|^2\) for all \(W^{1,2}\)-mappings \(u\) on \(S\) with mean value \(0\). Maps for which equality is achieved solve the equation \(\Delta_gu+\lambda(ue^{u^2}-|S|^{-1}\int_S ue^{u^2})=0\) for some \(\lambda>0\). This is the motivation to study that equation. Here, the authors consider sequences of solutions where \(\lambda\to 0\). Such sequences, even if convergent on most of \(S\), may blow up at finitely many points in \(S\). Under some technical assumption, the authors prove here that for any \(k\in{\mathbb N}\), there are solutions \(u_\lambda\) for small values of \(\lambda\) that blow up at exaclty \(k\) points in \(S\), in such a way that \(\lambda^{-1/2}u_\lambda\), up to \(O(\lambda^{1/2})\), equals a weighted sum of Green's functions centered at \(k\) points \(\xi^{(\lambda)}_j\). As \(\lambda\to0\), both the points and the weights converge. The technical condition, however, is not easily fulfilled, and therefore the search for examples of such bubbling sequences with given \(k\) is still interesting. The authors prove that on \(S=S^2\), there is a family of solutions with two bubbling points. On rectangular flat tori, they find (exactly) seven or nine families with \(k=2\), with nine confirmed if the rectangle is a square. The examples are seriously nontrivial, and the authors note that for \(k\ge 3\) the problem may be much harder even.