Degree counting and shadow system for $SU(3)$ Toda system: one bubbling

Abstract

Here we initiate the program for computing the Leray-Schauder topological degree for $SU(3)$ Toda system. This program still contains a lot of challenging problems for analysts. The first step of our approach is to answer whether concentration phenomena holds or not. In this paper, we prove the concentration phenomena holds while $\rho_1$ crosses $4\pi$, and $\rho_2\notin 4\pi\mathbb{N}$. However, for $\rho_1\geq 8\pi$, the question whether concentration holds or not still remains open up to now. The second step is to study the corresponding shadow system and its degree counting formula. The last step is to construct bubbling solution of $SU(3)$ Toda system via a non-degenerate solution of the shadow system. Using this construction, we succeed to calculate the degree for $\rho_1\in(0,4\pi)\cup(4\pi,8\pi)$ and $\rho_2\notin 4\pi\mathbb{N}$.