Positive solutions of singular \(k_i\)-Hessian systems (Q2135687)

The author studies the \(k_i\)-Hessian system \begin{align*} (-1)^{k_i} S_{k_i}^{1/k_i} (D^2u_i) & = h(|x|) f_i(u_1,\dots,u_n) \mbox{ in } \Omega, \ i\in \{1,\dots,n\}, \\ \qquad u_i &= 0 \mbox{ on } \partial\Omega, \end{align*} where \(k_i\in\{1,2\dots,m\}\), \(\Omega=\{x\in\mathbb{R}^m:|x|<1\}\), \(m,n\ge 2\) are integers, and \(h_i,f_i\), \(i\in \{1,\dots,n\}\), satisfy the following hypotheses: \(h_i\in C[0,1)\) is nonnegative, singular at \(1\), \(h_i\not\equiv 0\) on any subinterval of \([0,1)\), \(\int_0^1 h_i^{k_i}(t)\, dt <\infty\), and \(f_i:\mathbb{R}^n_+ \rightarrow \mathbb{R}_+\) is continuous. The \(k\)-Hessian operator \(S_k(D^2u)\) in (1) is defined by \[ S_k(D^2u) = \sum_{1\le i_1< \cdots < i_k \le m} \lambda_{i_1} \cdots \lambda_{i_k} \] where \(\lambda_1,\dots,\lambda_m\) are the eigenvalues of \(D^2u\). The author proves existence and multiplicity results for positive radial solutions of (1) under suitable additional hypotheses. Both the results and techniques used are different to previous works on \(k\)-Hessian systems. The main tool is an index theory for compact mappings on cones in Banach spaces due to \textit{H. Amann} [SIAM Rev. 18, 620--709 (1976; Zbl 0345.47044)].