Existence of positive solutions for nonlinear boundary value problems in bounded domains of \(\mathbb R^n\) (Q2491392)

The nonlinear elliptic problem \(\Delta u=f(.,u)\) in \(D\), \(u| _{\partial D} =\varphi\), where \(\varphi\) is a nonnegative continuous function on \(\partial D\) and \(f\) is a nonnegative function satisfying some appropriate conditions related to some Kato class \(K(D)\), is considered in weak distributional sense. Here \(D\) is a bounded domain in \(\mathbb{R}^n,\;n\geq 2\). The aim is to prove that the problem has a continuous positive solution bounded below by a fixed harmonic function, which is continuous on \(\overline{D}\). Next, the Dirichlet problem \(\Delta u=-\rho(.,u)\) in \(D\), \(u| _{\partial D} =\varphi\), where \(\rho\) is a nonnegative function satisfying some assumptions is discussed. The approach is based on the Schauder fixed point theorem.