Positive solutions to nonlinear p-Laplace equations with Hardy potential in exterior domains

Abstract

We study the existence and nonexistence of positive (super) solutions to the nonlinear $p$-Laplace equation $$-\Delta_p u-\frac{\mu}{|x|^p}u^{p-1}=\frac{C}{|x|^{\sigma}}u^q$$ in exterior domains of ${\R}^N$ ($N\ge 2$). Here $p\in(1,+\infty)$ and $\mu\le C_H$, where $C_H$ is the critical Hardy constant. We provide a sharp characterization of the set of $(q,\sigma)\in\R^2$ such that the equation has no positive (super) solutions. The proofs are based on the explicit construction of appropriate barriers and involve the analysis of asymptotic behavior of super-harmonic functions associated to the $p$-Laplace operator with Hardy-type potentials, comparison principles and an improved version of Hardy's inequality in exterior domains. In the context of the $p$-Laplacian we establish the existence and asymptotic behavior of the harmonic functions by means of the generalized Pr\"ufer-Transformation.