On the number and location of critical points of solutions of nonlinear elliptic equations in domains with a small hole

Abstract

In this paper we study the following problem \begin{equation} \begin{cases} -\Delta u=f(u)~&\mbox{in}\ \Omega_\varepsilon,\\ u>0~&\mbox{in}\ \Omega_\varepsilon,\\ u=0~&\mbox{on}\ \partial\Omega_\varepsilon, \end{cases} \end{equation} where $\Omega_\varepsilon=\Omega\backslash B(P,\varepsilon)$, $\Omega\subset R^N$ with $N\geq 2$ is a smooth bounded domain, $B(P,\varepsilon)$ is the ball centered at $P$ and radius $\varepsilon>0$ and $f$ is a smooth nonlinearity. By some computations involving the Green function and degree theory, we compute the number and location of critical points of solutions for small $\varepsilon>0$.