Multiplicity and uniqueness of positive solutions for elliptic equations with nonlinear boundary conditions arising in a theory of thermal explosion (Q2253311)

The authors consider a model of thermal explosion, in a classical problem of combustion. This means a spontaneous initiation of a rapid combustion process. The model is a boundary value problem consists of an elliptical partial differential equation in an \(n\)-dimensional bounded domain, containing a parameter \(\lambda\) and a nonlinear function \(f\), and a Dirichlet condition on the smooth boundary of the domain. For large and small values of the parameter \(\lambda\), the above mentioned problem admits an unique positive solution, whereas for intermediate values of the parameter, solutions are multiple. To obtain these results, the authors use the method of sub and super-solution. The positive solutions of the boundary problem with nonlinear heat loss behave in a way similar to the case of cold boundary condition. This result is surprising because the critical values of the parameter (the minimum, maximum value, respectively) which correspond to the case with the heat loss can be significantly lower than those corresponding to cold boundary conditions. In all cases, the nonlinearity f satisfies some natural assumptions. At the end of this paper, the authors give an example of such nonlinearity which satisfies these natural assumptions and is most relevant to applications.