Positivity for the clamped plate equation under high tension (Q2159769)

The authors establish a maximum principle for solutions of the equation \(\Delta^2 u - \gamma \Delta u = f\) in a bounded \(C^4\)-smooth domain \(\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^n\), \(n \geq 1\), under the clamped boundary conditions \(u=\partial_\nu u = 0\) on \(\partial\Omega\). More precisely, it is proved that if \(f \in L^\infty(\Omega)\) and \(\tau>0\) are such that \(f \geq 0\) a.e.\ in \(\Omega\) and \(\int_\Omega f \,dx \geq \tau \|f\|_\infty > 0\), then there exists \(\gamma_0 = \gamma_0(\Omega,\tau)>0\) such that the solution \(u\) satisfies \(u>0\) in \(\Omega\) provided \(\gamma \geq \gamma_0\). The case \(n=1\) was previously studied in [\textit{H.-C. Grunau}, Adv. Differ. Equ. 7, No. 2, 177--196 (2002; Zbl 1031.34085)] and the case \(n=2,3\) was covered in [\textit{D. Cassani} and \textit{A. Tarsia}, Adv. Nonlinear Anal. 11, 655--671 (2022; Zbl 1481.35154)].