Bifurcation of solutions to semilinear elliptic problems on \(\mathbb{S}^2\) with a small hole (Q2815567)

The nonlinear eigenvalue problem \(-\Delta_S u=\mu u+|u|^{p-1}u\) in \(B_r\), \(u=0\) on \(\partial B_r\) is studied. Here \(-\Delta_S\) is the Laplace-Beltrami operator on the unit sphere \(\mathbb{S}\), \(1<p<\infty\), and \(B_r\) is the geodesic ball on \(\mathbb{S}^2\) with geodesic radius \(r\), the origin of \(B_r\) being the north pole \((0,0,1)\). If \(r=\pi-E\), \(E\) ``small'', it is proved that eigenvalues of the linearized problem have multiplicity 1 or 2 and then are bifurcation and that bifurcating solutions are non-positive (except for the first eigenvalue, in this case they are positive).NEWLINENEWLINE In the case of multiplicity 2, bifurcating solutions are not radially symmetric. Proofs used the Lyapunov-Schmidt reduction and a detailed study of the zeroes of the Legendre functions arising when applying the method of separation of variables in polar coordinates to study the linearized problem.