Lane Emden problems with large exponents and singular Liouville equations (Q2452027)

The authors consider the Lane-Emden Dirichlet problem \[ -\Delta u=|u|^{p-1}u \quad \text{ in }\;B_1(0)\subset {\mathbb R}^2, \quad u=0 \;\text{ on }\;\partial B_1(0), \] where \(p>1. \) They study the asymptotic behavior of the last energy nodal radial solution \(u_p,\) as \(p\to +\infty\). Assuming that \(u_p(0)<0,\) it is proved that a suitable rescaling of the negative part \(u^-_p\) converges to the unique regular solution of the Liouville equation in \({\mathbb R}^2,\) while a suitable rescaling of the positive part \(u^+_p\) converges to a (singular) solution of a singular Liouville equation in \({\mathbb R}^2.\) Also obtained are exact asymptotic values for the \(L^\infty\)-norms of \(u^-_p\) and \(u^+_p,\) as well as an asymptotic estimate of the energy. It is proved that the nodal line \(N_p=\{x\in B: \;|x|=r_p\}\) shrinks to a point, and the rate of convergence of \(r_p\) is computed.