Ground states of a nonlinear curl-curl problem in cylindrically symmetric media (Q520226)

The nonlinear curl-curl problem \(\nabla\times\nabla\times U+ VU=\Gamma |U|^{p-1}U\) in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) is studied for \(p>1\) and the given real-valued functions \(V\) and \(\Gamma\) let be according to the following three scenarios. The fully radially symmetric case: \(V,\Gamma\in L^\infty_{\mathrm{loc}} (\mathbb{R}^3)\) are such that \(0\leq V\Gamma^{-1}\in L^{p'}_{\mathrm{loc}} (\mathbb{R}^3)\), and \(V(x)=\widetilde{V}(|x|)\) and \(\Gamma(x)=\widetilde{\Gamma}(|x|)\), for almost all \(x\in \mathbb{R}^3\), with \(\widetilde{V},\widetilde{\Gamma}\in L^\infty_{\mathrm{loc}} ((0,\infty))\). The strongly defocusing case: \(V,\Gamma\in L^\infty (\mathbb{R}^3)\) are such that \(\sup_{\mathbb{R}^3}V<0\), and \(\Gamma(x)\leq -C(1+|x|)^\alpha\), for a.a. \(x\in \mathbb{R}^3\), with \(2\alpha>3(p-1)\) and \(C>0\). The focusing case: \(V,\Gamma\in L^\infty (\mathbb{R}^3)\) are such that \(\inf_{\mathbb{R}^3}\Gamma>0\), and \(V(r,x_3)=V(r,x_3+1)\) and \(\Gamma(r,x_3)=\Gamma(r,x_3+1)\), for a.a. \(r=\sqrt{x_1^2+x_2^2}>0\) and \(x_3\in \mathbb{R}\). The main results (Theorems 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3) establish weak solutions by means the minimization of the energy functional. The latter theorem is handled by providing that the zero lies outside the spectrum and \(1<p<5\). The physical context of the problem is given in spite of the assumption of full radial symmetry in the first scenario ``does not lead to interesting solutions'' and ``the latter two scenarios may be criticized''. The authors conclude that ``it will be desirable to overcome these limitations in future work''.