Peak solutions for the fractional Nirenberg problem (Q2349032)

The authors study the properties of strictly positive solutions on \(\mathbb R^N\) of \[ {(*)_K}:\qquad (-\Delta)^\gamma u=(1+\varepsilon K(x))u^{\frac{N+2\gamma}{N-2\gamma}}, \] such that \(\varepsilon>0,\;\gamma\in(0,1),\;2\gamma<N\), and \(K\) a bounded continuously derivable function. Precisely, they give sufficient conditions for having a weak solution of \((*)_K\) in the fractional Sobolev space \(\dot{H}^\gamma(\mathbb R^N)\). Furthermore, they show that a weak solution takes the form \[ u_\varepsilon=\sum_{1\leq j\leq 2}\alpha_{j,\varepsilon}U_{y_\varepsilon^j,\lambda_{j,\varepsilon}}+v_{\varepsilon}, \] such that for \(\varepsilon\) close to zero, the elements \((\alpha_{j,\varepsilon}, y^j_\varepsilon,\lambda_{j,\varepsilon})\) converge to one, a critical point of \(K\), and to infinity, respectively. Concerning \(v_\varepsilon\), it belongs to a proper subspace of \(\dot{H}^\gamma(\mathbb R^N)\) and it converges to zero with respect to the \(\dot{H}^\gamma(\mathbb R^N)\)-norm (Theorem 1.1). Each function \(U_{y_\varepsilon^j,\lambda_{j,\varepsilon}}\) is, up to a multiplicative constant, an explicit solution of \((*)_0\). Amongst the tools used for the proof of Theorem 1.1, the authors look for the critical points of the energy functional of the Euler-Lagrange equation associated to \((*)_K\). Appendix A deals with the unfolding of \(u_\varepsilon\).