Special Session 73: Nonlinear elliptic and parabolic equations and related functional inequalities

Bifurcation into spectral gaps for Schr\odinger equations: from local to non local case

Cristina Tarsi
Universit\`a degli Studi di Milano
Italy
Co-Author(s):    
Abstract:
In this talk we consider a Schr\odinger-Choquard equation of the type $$ -\Delta u +V(x)u=(I_\alpha\ast |u|^p)|u|^{p-2}u+\lambda u \quad x \in \mathbb R^N $$ where $V$ is a periodic and non costant potential, $I_\alpha$ denotes the Riesz potential and $N\geq 3$. In this case, the spectrum of the self-adjoint operator $-\Delta + V$ in $L^2(\mathbb R^N)$ is purely continuous and may contain gaps. An interesting physical and mathematical issue is establishing the existence of branches of solutions converging towards the trivial solution as $\lambda$ approaches some {\emph{bifurcation point}} of the spectrum. An intriguing situation is the so called {\emph{gap-bifurcation}}, occurring at boundary points of the spectral gaps: we review the main known results and open problems in the local case (in presence of a local perturbation $f(u)$) and we address the non local case.