Asymptotic behavior of ground states and local uniqueness for fractional Schrödinger equations with nearly critical growth (Q6161619)

The paper studies the nearly critical fractional Schrödinger equation \[ {(-\Delta)}^s u + V(x) u = u^{2^*_s-1-\varepsilon} \text{ in }\mathbb{R}^n,\ n>4s, \] where \(\varepsilon>0\) is small, \({(-\Delta)}^s\) stands for the fractional Laplacian operator, and \(2^*_s\) is the critical exponent for the fractional Sobolev inclusion \(W^{s,2}(\mathbb{R}^n)\hookrightarrow L^p(\mathbb{R}^n)\). It is shown that, as \(\varepsilon\to 0\), the ground state solution \(u_\varepsilon\) blows up at the rate \[ \|u_\varepsilon\|_{L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^n)}\sim\varepsilon^{-\frac{n-2s}{4s}} \] under some assumptions on the potential \(V\) which make it smooth, positive, and such that it reaches its supremum at infinity (the case of constant potential \(V\equiv 1\) is included). Moreover, for dimensions \(n>6s\), it is shown that there exists at least a sequence \(\varepsilon_j\) such that \(u_{\varepsilon_j}(x_j)=\max u_{\varepsilon_j}\) and \[ x_j\to x_0 \text{ where }V(x_0)=\min V, \] which accounts for a partial characterization of concentration points.