On equilibrium solutions of diffusion equations with nonlinear boundary conditions (Q1912934)

This paper deals with the problem \[ {\partial u\over \partial t}= \Delta u\quad \text{in} \quad \Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^n, \quad {\partial u\over \partial n}= f(u)\quad \text{on}\quad \partial\Omega,\quad u(x, 0)= u_0(x) \] and the associated steady states. Here \(f\) is a smooth function and so is the boundary of the bounded domain \(\Omega\). Of course, the steady states include the zeros of \(f\) and hence the existence or nonexistence of nonconstant equilibria is of interest. These matters are discussed in this paper.