Pairs of positive solutions for nonhomogeneous Dirichlet problems (Q2239019)

Let \(\Omega \subseteq \mathbb{R}^N\) be a bounded domain with a \(C^2\)-boundary \(\partial \Omega\). The authors study a parametric Dirichlet problem of the form \[ \begin{cases} - \mbox{div } a(Du(z))= \lambda u(z)^{q-1} - f(z,u(z)) \mbox{ in } \Omega,\\ u|_{\partial \Omega}=0, \, u> 0 ,\, \lambda>0, \, 1<q<p, \end{cases} \tag{\(P_\lambda\)}\] where \(a: \mathbb{R}^N\to \mathbb{R}^N\) is a continuous and strictly monotone map (hence maximal monotone) with balanced \((p-1)\)-growth, \(f:\Omega \times \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}\) is a Carathéodory function satisfying useful properties. In this problem, \(s \to \lambda s^{q-1}\) is a concave term (recall \(q<p\)), and \(s \to f(z,s)\) is a \((q-1)\)-sublinear term, as \(s \to 0^+\) and as \(s \to +\infty\). Thus, the authors show that the uniqueness of the solution of \((P_\lambda)\) fails, and for big values of the parameter \(\lambda>0\), they have at least two positive smooth solutions. Additionally, they establish a maximum principle which shows that the solutions are strictly positive in \(\Omega\).