Generalized limit theorem and bifurcation for problems with Pucci's operator

Abstract

We establish a new limiting result which extends the famous Whyburn's limit theorem. As applications, we study the existence and multiplicity of one-sign or sign-changing solutions with a prescribed number of simple zeros for the following problem \begin{equation*} \begin{cases} -\mathcal{M}_{\lambda,\Lambda}^+\left(D^2 u\right)=\mu f(u) &\text{in } \Omega, u=0&\text{on } \partial\Omega, \end{cases} \end{equation*} where $\mathcal{M}_{\lambda,\Lambda}^+$ denotes the Pucci extremal operator. Combining bifurcation approach with our generalized limit theorem, we determine the range of parameter $\mu$ in which the above problem has one or multiple one-sign or sign-changing solutions according to the behaviors of $f$ at $0$ and $\infty$, and whether $f$ satisfies the signum condition $f(s)s> 0$ for $s\neq0$.