Solutions of a nonlinear ODE appearing in the theory of diffusion with absorption (Q2277619)

This paper is the outcome of collaboration done while the authors were visiting the Mathematical Institute of Oxford University and subsequently during the Conference on Nonlinear Diffusion Equations and their Equilibrium States in Gregynog, Wales, U.K. In fact they reproduce the paper of \textit{S. Kamin} and the second and third author [A nonlinear diffusion-absorption equation with unbounded data. Proc. 1989 Gregynog Conf. on Nonlinear Diffusion Equations and their Equilibrium states (to appear)] in this paper with slight addenda. The authors investigate the existence and uniqueness of solutions of the nonlinear differential equation \((f^ m)''-\beta \eta f'+\alpha f-f^ p=0,\) (m and p are the parameters) which appear when we want to find selfsimilar solutions of the form \(u(x,t)=t^{-\alpha}f(\eta),\quad \eta =xt^{\beta},\) for the nonlinear parabolic equation \(u_ t=(u^ m)_{xx}-u^ p\text{ in } Q={\mathbb{R}}\times (0,\infty),\) which appears in the theory of diffusion with absorption [\textit{A. S. Kalashnikov}, Zh. Vychisl. Mat. Mat. Fiz. 16, 689-696 (1976; Zbl 0328.35052)]. They consider also the range of exponents \(1<p<m\) where the existence and uniqueness theory has some peculiar features. The similarity exponents are (necessarily) \(\alpha =1/(p-1)\), \(\beta =(m-p)/(2(p-1))=\alpha /y\) where \(y=2/(m-p)\) is the critical exponent. The paper contains formidable lemmas, propositions and theorems which are too complicated to reproduce some of them here.