Existence and multiplicity of positive solutions for a class of elliptic equations involving critical Sobolev exponents (Q326707)

The authors consider the existence of positive solutions to the elliptic problem \[ -\Delta u=Q(x)u^{2^*-1}+\lambda u^{q} \] in a bounded, smooth domain \(\Omega\) of \(\mathbb{R}^N\) (\(N\geq 3\)) with Dirichlet boundary conditions; \(\lambda>0\) is a parameter, and \(q \in (0,2^*-1)\) is a constant, where \(2^*=2N/(N-2)\) is the critical Sobolev exponent, and \(Q>0\) is continuous. The case where \(Q\) is a constant has been studied extensively, starting with the pioneering work of Brezis and Nirenberg from the early eighties who considered \(q=1\). The case of \(Q\) being nonconstant poses extra difficulties in adapting the already developed variational framework. Nevertheless, the authors are able to deal with them by imposing certain conditions on \(Q\) near its local maxima.