Multiplicity results for two kinds of equivariant systems (Q1888600)

The author is concerned with the system of elliptic equations \(-\varepsilon\Delta u_i + F_{u_i}(u_1,\ldots,u_m) = 0\) in \(\Omega\) with the Neumann conditions \(\partial u_{i}/\partial n = 0\) on \(\partial\Omega\), \(i=1,\ldots,m\). Here \(\Omega\subset{\mathbb R}^n\) is a bounded domain, \(F\in C^2({\mathbb R}^m)\) and \(\nabla F\) is of subcritical growth (in the sense of the Sobolev embedding theorem). Solutions of this problem correspond to critical points of the functional \(B_{\varepsilon}(u) = {\varepsilon\over2}\int_{\Omega}| \nabla u| ^2\,dx + \int_{\Omega}F(u)\,dx\) in \(H^1(\Omega)^m\) (\(u=(u_{1},\ldots u_{m})\)). Two cases are considered: \(m=2\), \(F(u_{1},u_{2})=g(\sqrt{u_{1}^2+u_{2}^2})\) and \(m\geq 2\), \(F\) invariant with respect to an orthogonal representation of \({\mathbb Z}/q\) (\(q>2\) a prime) in \({\mathbb R}^m\). In the first case \(B_{\varepsilon}\) is \(O(2)\)-invariant, hence to each critical point \(u\neq 0\) there corresponds a critical manifold \(M\cong S^1\) (the orbit of \(u\) under the action of \(O(2)\)). It is shown that if \(g(t)>0\) for all \(t\neq 1\), \(g\) has a local maximum at 0, \(g(1)=0\) and all critical orbits of \(B_{\varepsilon}\) are nondegenerate, then there exists a sequence \(\mu_{i}\searrow 0\) such that for all \(\varepsilon\in (\mu_{i+1},\mu_{i})\) there are at least \(i\) nontrivial critical manifolds (whose Morse indices are respectively \(2, 4,\ldots, 2i\)). In the second case it is assumed that \(F(u)\to\infty\) as \(| u| \to\infty\) and the Hessian of \(F\) at 0 has a negative eigenvalue. Then there exists a sequence \(\mu_{i}\searrow 0\) such that if \(\varepsilon\in(\mu_{i},\mu_{i-1})\) and all critical points of \(B_{\varepsilon}\) are nondegenerate, then the number of them is at least \(2iq\). The proofs use an appropriate version of the Morse inequalities.