On multiplicity of positive solutions for nonlocal equations with critical nonlinearity

Mousomi Bhakta, Patrizia Pucci

Published 2020-03-04Version 1

This paper deals with existence and multiplicity of positive solutions to the following class of nonlocal equations with critical nonlinearity: \begin{equation} \tag{$\mathcal E$} (-\Delta)^s u = a(x) |u|^{2^*_s-2}u+f(x)\;\;\text{in}\;\mathbb{R}^{N}, \quad u \in \dot{H}^s(\mathbb{R}^{N}), \end{equation} where $s \in (0,1)$, $N>2s$, $2_s^*:=\frac{2N}{N-2s}$, $0< a\in L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^{N})$ and $f$ is a nonnegative nontrivial functional in the dual space of $\dot{H}^s$. We prove existence of a positive solution whose energy is negative. Further, under the additional assumption that $a$ is a continuous function, $a(x)\geq 1$ in $\mathbb{R}^{N}$, $a(x)\to 1$ as $|x|\to\infty$ and $\|f\|_{\dot{H}^s(\mathbb{R}^{N})'}$ is small enough (but $f\not\equiv 0$), we establish existence of at least two positive solutions to ($\mathcal E$).