On a class of quasilinear Schrödinger equations with superlinear or asymptotically linear terms (Q2358279)

The authors study existence and nonexistence of nonzero solutions for the following class of quasilinear Schrödinger equations: \[ -\Delta u +V(x)u+\frac{\kappa}{2}[\Delta(u^2)]u=h(u), \;x \in \mathbb{R}^N. \] Here \(\kappa\) is a given real parameter and \(V:\mathbb{R}^N\rightarrow \mathbb{R}\) is a continuous potential which is large at infinity. The nonlinearity \(h:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}\) is continuous and can be asymptotically linear or superlinear at infinity. In the case when \(\kappa>0\) and \(N\geq 3\), the authors prove the existence of a nonnegative and nonzero solution of the above problem. Both the cases of \(h\) asymptotically linear and superlinear are treated. The main ingredients of the proof are minimax techniques and \(L^{\infty}\)-estimates. The authors also prove a Pohozaev identity that justifies that \(2^*=\frac{2N}{N-2}\) is the critical exponent for this class of problems when \(\kappa>0\). When \(\kappa<0\), the authors also prove a nonexistence result, making use of the Pohozaev identity previously established in their paper.