Non-degeneracy and local uniqueness of positive solutions to the Lane-Emden problem in dimension two (Q2065075)

The paper deals with the asymptotic behavior as \(p\to\infty\) of positive solutions \(u_p\in H^1_0(\Omega)\) of the Lane-Emden problem \(-\Delta u = u^p\), on a bounded smooth domain \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^2\). If \((u_p)\) is a family of solutions satisfying \(\sup\limits_p p\|\nabla u_p\|_2^2 < \infty\) then it is well known that \(p\|\nabla u_p\|_2^2 \to 8\pi e\cdot k\) along a subsequence for some \(k\in\mathbb{N}\), and that \(pu_p\) converges to a sum of weighted Green functions with precisely \(k\) spikes at points \(x_1,\dots,x_k\in\Omega\); see [\textit{F. De Marchis} et al., J. Fixed Point Theory Appl. 19, No. 1, 889--916 (2017; Zbl 1380.35110); Arch. Math. 111, No. 4, 421--429 (2018; Zbl 1417.35042)]. In the present paper it is proved that for \(p\) large these solutions are nondegenerate, provided \((x_1,\dots,x_k)\) is a non-degenerate critical point of a certain Kirchhoff-Routh function. This applies in particular to generic domains as proved in [the reviewer et al., Discrete Contin. Dyn. Syst., Ser. S 12, No. 7, 1867--1877 (2019; Zbl 1475.35127)]. In the case \(k=1\) it is also proved that the solutions concentrating at \(x_1\) are unique for \(p\) large. The proofs are based on local Pohozaev identities, blow-up analysis, and an improved asymptotic analysis of \(u_p\).