On a modified capillary equation (Q1906166)

Let \(x\in \mathbb{R}^N\), \(D\) the gradient operator, \(|\cdot|\) the Euclidean norm, \(r= |x|\) and \[ A(u)= -\text{div}\Biggl({Du\over \sqrt{1+ |Du|^2}}\Biggr)\tag{1} \] the mean curvature operator. Radial solutions of \(A(u)= ku\), \(k> 0\), are known in the literature on the analysis of capillary surfaces. A theorem of Serrin (1988) asserts that for the problem \(A(u)= f(u)= |u|^{q- 1} u\) over the ball \(|x|< r\) and \(u= 0\) on the boundary of the ball, there exists a positive number \(r_1\) that depends on \(q\) and \(N\) with no positive solution of \(A(u)= f(u)\) over the \(q\)-range \((0, r_1)\). It is also known that for the Poisson equation: \(-\Delta u= f(u)= |u|^{q- 1} u\), no positive solutions (radial or otherwise) exist over the \(q\)-range \(1< q< {N+ 2\over N- 2}\). Further, in the case of \(A(u)= |u|^{q- 1} u\), a similar result holds for radial solutions over the truncated \(q\)-range \(1< q< {N\over N- 2}\). The paper proves a new existence theorem for the problem \(A(u)= |u|^{q- 1} u\) over the ball \(|x|< r\) with vanishing boundary values by showing that over the entire \(q\)-range \(1< q< {N+ 2\over N- 2}\), there exists a positive number \(r^*\) such that the problem has at least one solution which is positive for every \(r> r^*\). It is an open question whether a ground state, i.e., a radial solution that is positive and approaches zero as \(r\to \infty\), exists over the \(q\)-range \(({N\over N- 2},{N+ 2\over N- 2})\) for the problem \(A(u)= f(u)= |u|^{q- 1} u\).