Three topological problems about integral functionals on Sobolev spaces (Q2574772)

The energy functional \(J_f\) associated to the Dirichlet problem for the equation \(-\Delta u=f(x,u)\) in \(W^{1,2}_0(\Omega)\) is considered. It is asked whether a function \(f\) exists such that \(J_f\) satisfies certain topological properties. The implications of these topological properties to certain multiplicity results of the corresponding Dirichlet problem are considered. For example, if a certain associated set is disconnected with respect to a certain topology, the Dirichlet problem for the corresponding \(f\) has an infinite number of solutions.