Morse theory methods for a class of quasi-linear elliptic systems of higher order (Q2312874)

In this paper, the author suggests a local Morse theory for a class of functionals on Hilbert spaces, which are not twice continuously differentiable. To describe this class, let \(H\) be a Hilbert space, \(X\) a dense linear subspace, and \(\mathcal{L}\in C^1(V,\mathbb{R})\), where \(V\) is an open neighborhood of \(0\in H\), such that \(\mathcal{L}'(0)=0\). It is required that the gradient \(\nabla\mathcal{L}\) has a Gâteaux derivative \(B(u)\), a symmetric bounded operator on \(H\) at every \(u\in V\cap X\), and that \(B: V\cap X \to L_s(H)\) has a decomposition \(B=P+Q\) with each \(P(u)\) positive definite and \(Q(u)\) compact. Additionally required are also (1) All eigenfunctions of the operator \(B(0)\) that correspond to non-positive eigenvalues belong to \(X\). (2) For any sequence \((x_k)\) in \(V\cap X\) with \(\|x_k\|\to 0\), \(\|P(x_k)u-P(0)u\|\to 0\) for any \(u\in H\). (3) The map \(Q: V\cap X \to L(H)\) is continuous at \(0\) with respect to the topology on \(H\). (4) For any sequence \((x_k)\) in \(V\cap X\) with \(\|x_k\|\to 0\), there exist constants \(C_0>0\) and \(k_0\in \mathbb{N}\) such that \((P(x_k)u,u) \geq C_0\|u\|^2\) for all \(u\in H\) and for all \(k\geq k_0\). For functions satisfying these conditions, the author then derives a Morse-Palais Lemma, and under the assumption that \(X=H\), a generalization of the Gromoll-Meyer splitting theorem. Comparisons with other hypotheses for local Morse theories are given, as well as new applications of his hypothesis.