A pointwise inequality for the fourth-order Lane-Emden equation (Q500445)

The authors prove a priori pointwise estimates for positive solutions of the fourth-order Hénon equation \[ \Delta^2 u = |x|^{\alpha}u^p \] in \(\mathbb R^n\) where \(p > 1\) and \( \alpha \geq 0\). Following ideas provided by Modica and Souplet, the authors develop an interesting iteration argument to prove a lower bound for the negative Laplacian of positive bounded solutions that involves powers of \(u\) and the new term \(\frac{|\nabla u|^2}{u}\). As far as the authors know, this is the first time that such an argument is applied towards constructing pointwise inequalities for partial differential equations. This result has also applications in differential geometry: it implies that the scalar curvature of the conformal metric with conformal factor \( u^{\frac{4}{n-4}}\) is positive.