A variational analysis of a gauged nonlinear Schrödinger equation (Q496453)

This paper concerns radial stationary states of a gauged Schrödinger equation in dimension \(2\), and the radial states satisfy an equation involving a nonlocal term on \(\mathbb R\): \[ -\Delta u+\left(\omega +{h^2(|x|)\over |x|^2}+\int_{|x|}^\infty {h(s)\over s}u^2(s)ds\right)u(x)=|u(x)|^{p-1}u(x), \] where \(h(r)=\int_0^r su^2(s)ds/2\), and the equation is the Euler-Lagrange equation of a functional \(I\) defined on \(H^1_r(\mathbb R^2)\), the Sobolev space of radially symmetric functions. It is known that if \(p>3\) then the functional \(I\) is unbounded from below. This paper is devoted to the case where \(1<p<3\), and the authors show that there exists an explicit value \(\omega_0>0\) such that the functional is unbounded from below if \(\omega\in (0,\omega_0)\); is bounded from below but not coercive if \(\omega=\omega_0\); and is bounded from below and coercive if \(\omega>\omega_0\). Existence and non-existence of positive solutions are also proved.