Multiple equilibria, periodic solutions and a priori bounds for solutions in superlinear parabolic problems (Q1890032)

The paper is concerned with parabolic equations of the form \[ \begin{cases} u_t-\Delta u =f(x,t,u), & x\in\Omega,\;t>0,\\ u=0, &x\in\partial\Omega,\;t>0,\\ u(x,0)=u_0(x), &x\in\Omega, \end{cases} \tag \(*\) \] where \(\Omega\subset\mathbb R^n\) is a smoothly bounded domain, \(f\) has superlinear subcritical growth in \(u\) as \(| u|\to\infty\), and \(u_0\in H^1_0(\Omega)\). The main part of the paper deals with the case where \(f\) is independent of \(t\). Suppose zero is an asymptotically stable equilibrium of \((*)\) and let \(D_A\subset H^1_0(\Omega)\) be its domain of attraction. Theorem 1.1 states the existence of a positive, a negative and a sign-changing equilibrium on the boundary \(\partial D_A\). If \(f\) is odd in \(u\) then Theorem 3.1 yields infinitely many equilibria on \(\partial D_A\). Theorem 4.1 deals with the case where \(f=f(u)\) is the sum of a subcritical superlinear term and the concave term \(| u|^{q-1} u\), \(0<q<1\). Here the author proves the existence of two positive, two negative, and two sign-changing equilibria using the parabolic semiflow. The existence of the equilibria in these theorems is known by variational methods. The method of proof and the localization in the boundary of the domain of attraction of an asymptotically stable equilibrium is new. In the last section \(f\) is independent of \(x\) and of the form \(f(t,u)=m(t)g(u)\) with \(m(t)\geq m_0>0\) being \(T\)-periodic. Theorem 5.1 yields an a-priori estimate for positive solutions of \((*)\), and as a consequence the existence of a \(T\)-periodic solution.