A computer assisted study of uniqueness of nodal ground state solutions (Q2423692)

The authors present a numerical study of the existence of ground states for the solution of a nonlinear Schrödinger equation in \(n\) dimensions. After a separation of variables and using the assumption that the solution to Schrödinger's equation is radially symmetric, the authors reduce the given equation to the following initial value problem on \((0,\infty)\): \[ u''(r)+\frac{n-1}{r}u'(r)+f(u(r)) = 0,\: u(0)=a,\: u'(0)=0. \tag{1} \] The parameter \(a\) determines how many zeros the solution has on \((0,\infty)\), and a typical example for \(f\) is \(f(u)=-u+u|u|^{p-1}\), \(1<p<n+2/n-2\). The authors are interested in solutions to Equation (1) with a given number of zeros and ground states, which are solutions that separate, for example, solutions with no zero on \((0,\infty)\) and solutions with one zero on \((0,\infty)\). To determine the parameter \(a\) for these ground states, the authors study the equations \[ u''(r) +\frac{n-1}{r}u'(r)+\lambda f(u(r)) = 0, \: r\in[0,1],\: u'(0)=0,\: u(1)=0, \tag{2} \] and \[ u''(r) +\frac{n-1}{r}u'(r)+\lambda f(u(r)) = 0, \: r\in[0,1],\: u'(0)=0,\: u'(1)=0. \tag{3} \] For \(\lambda>0\), the solutions to (2) correspond to solutions of (1) with a zero at \(\sqrt{\lambda}\) and solutions to (3) correspond to solutions with \(u'(\sqrt{\lambda})=0\). The authors graph the solutions (\(a\)-values) to (2) and (3) for \(\lambda>0\) and conclude the existence of ground states for (1) from the shape of the resulting curves.