Small order limit of fractional Dirichlet sublinear-type problems

Abstract

We study the asymptotic behavior of solutions to various Dirichlet sublinear-type problems involving the fractional Laplacian when the fractional parameter s tends to zero. Depending on the type on nonlinearity, positive solutions may converge to a characteristic function or to a positive solution of a limit nonlinear problem in terms of the logarithmic Laplacian, that is, the pseudodifferential operator with Fourier symbol $\ln(|\xi|^2)$. In the case of a logistic-type nonlinearity, our results have the following biological interpretation: in the presence of a toxic boundary, species with reduced mobility have a lower saturation threshold, higher survival rate, and are more homogeneously distributed. As a result of independent interest, we show that sublinear logarithmic problems have a unique least-energy solution, which is bounded and Dini continuous with a log-H\"older modulus of continuity.