Global bifurcation results for a semilinear biharmonic equation on all of \(\mathbb{R}^N\) (Q1806197)

Summary: We prove existence of positive solutions for the semilinear problem \[ (-\Delta)^2u=\lambda g(x)f(u),\quad u(x)>0\;(x\in\mathbb{R}^N), \quad\lim_{ |x|\to +\infty} u(x)=0 \] under the main hypothesis \(N>4\) and \(g\in L^{N/4}(\mathbb{R}^N)\). First, we employ classical spectral analysis for the existence of a simple positive principal eigenvalue for the linearized problem. Next, we prove the existence of a global continuum of positive solutions for the problem above, branching out from the first eigenvalue of the differential equation in the case that \(f(u)=u\). This fact is achieved by applying standard local and global bifurcation theory. It was possible to carry out these methods by working between certain equivalent weighted and homogeneous Sobolev spaces.