Critical point theorems and applications to a semilinear elliptic problem (Q1914383)

Let \(H\) be a real Hilbert space and \(I(u)\) a functional of class \(C^2\) on \(H\) having the origin as a critical point and suppose the origin possesses well defined critical groups. The first theorem in this paper derives the existence of a nonzero critical point from the interplay between the behaviour of the functional at the origin and at infinity. For studying multiple nonzero solutions, it is supposed that the functional \(I(u)\) possesses a local minimum \(u_0\neq 0\). The argument is based on the infinite-dimensional Morse theory introduced by Gromoll-Meyer. First, the existence of a third critical point is obtained, and then it is established that at least two more critical points exist by assuming that \(I''(u)\) is Fredholm, for every critical point \(u\in H\), and by supposing \(\dim[\text{Ker } I''(u)]= 1\), if \(u\) is a critical point of \(I\) in \(H\) with Morse index equal to zero. The abstract results exposed are motivated by the study of nontrivial solutions for a semilinear elliptic boundary value problem having a nonlinearity with a superlinear growth in a given direction. The existence of nonzero solutions is determined as a function of the derivative of the nonlinearity at zero and its behaviour at \(- \infty\). The applications are related to existing results in the literature. The method used may also deal with other types of conditions.