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In this survey we provide an overview of nonlinear elliptic homogeneous boundary value problems featuring singular zero-order terms with respect to the unknown variable whose prototype equation is $$ -\Delta u = {u^{-\gamma}} \ \text{in}\ \Omega $$ where $\Omega$ is a bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$ ($N\geq 2$), and $\gamma>0$. We start by outlining the basic concepts and the mathematical framework needed for setting the problem. Both old and new key existence and uniqueness results are presented, alongside regularity issues depending on the regularity of the data. The presentation aims to be modern, self-contained and consistent. Some examples and open problems are also discussed.

In this paper we study existence and regularity of solutions to Dirichlet problems as $$ \begin{cases} - {\rm div}\left(|u|^m\frac{D u}{|D u|}\right) = f & \text{in}\;\Omega,\\ \newline u=0 & \text{on}\;\partial\Omega, \end{cases} $$ where $\Omega$ is an open bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$ ($N\geq 2$) with Lipschitz boundary, $m>0$, and $f$ belongs to the Lorentz space $L^{N,\infty}(\Omega)$. In particular, we explore the regularizing effect given by the degenerate coefficient $|u|^m$ in order to get non-trivial and bounded solutions with no smallness assumptions on the size of the data.

In this paper we provide a complete characterization of the regularity properties of the solutions associated to the homogeneous Dirichlet problem \begin{equation*} \begin{cases} \displaystyle - \Delta_1 u= h(u)f & \text{in } \Omega, \\ \newline u=0 & \text{on } \partial \Omega, \end{cases} \end{equation*} where $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^N$ is a bounded open set with Lipschitz boundary, $f \in L^m(\Omega)$ with $m\geq 1$ is a nonnegative function and $h\colon \mathbb{R}^+ \to \mathbb{R}^+$ is continuous, possibly singular at the origin and bounded at infinity. Without any growth restrictions on $h$ at zero, we prove existence of global finite energy solutions in $BV(\Omega)$ under sharp conditions on the summability of $f$ and on the behaviour of $h$ at infinity. Roughly speaking, the faster $h$ goes to zero at infinity, the less regularity is required on $f$. In contrast to the $p$-Laplacian case ($p>1$), we show that the behaviour of $h$ at the origin plays essentially no role. The main result contains an extension of the celebrated one of Lazer-McKenna (\cite{lm}) to the case of the $1$-Laplacian as principal operator.

In this paper we deal with the following boundary value problem \begin{equation*} \begin{cases} -\Delta_{p}u + g(u) | \nabla u|^{p} = h(u)f & \text{in $\Omega$,} \newline u\geq 0 & \text{in $\Omega$,} \newline u=0 & \text{on $\partial \Omega$,} \ \end{cases} \end{equation*} in a domain $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^{N}$ $(N \geq 2)$, where $1\leq p

In this paper we study existence and uniqueness of solutions to Dirichlet problems as $$ \begin{cases} g(u) -{\rm div}\left(\frac{D u}{\sqrt{1+|D u|^2}}\right) = f & \text{in}\;\Omega,\\ \newline u=0 & \text{on}\;\partial\Omega, \end{cases} $$ where $\Omega$ is an open bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$ ($N\geq 2$) with Lipschitz boundary, $g:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$ is a continuous function and $f$ belongs to some Lebesgue spaces. In particular, under suitable saturation and sign assumptions, we explore the regularizing effect given by the absorption term $g(u)$ in order to get a solutions for data $f$ merely belonging to $L^1(\Omega)$ and with no smallness assumptions on the norm. We also prove a sharp boundedness result for data in $L^{N}(\Omega)$ as well as uniqueness if $g$ is increasing.

In this paper we prove existence of nonnegative bounded solutions for the non-autonomous prescribed mean curvature problem in non-parametric form on an open bounded domain $\Omega$ of $\mathbb{R}^N$. The mean curvature, that depends on the location of the solution $u$ itself, is asked to be of the form $f(x)h(u)$, where $f$ is a nonnegative function in $L^{N,\infty}(\Omega)$ and $h:\mathbb{R}^+\mapsto \mathbb{R}^+$ is merely continuous and possibly unbounded near zero. As a preparatory tool for our analysis we propose a purely PDE approach to the prescribed mean curvature problem not depending on the solution, i.e. $h\equiv 1$. This part, which has its own independent interest, aims to represent a modern and up-to-date account on the subject. Uniqueness is also handled in presence of a decreasing nonlinearity. The sharpness of the results is highlighted by mean of explicit examples.

We deal with existence and uniqueness of nonnegative solutions to \begin{equation*} \left\{ \begin{array}{l} -\Delta u = f(x) \text{ in }\Omega, \frac{\partial u}{\partial \nu} + \lambda(x) u = \frac{g(x)}{u^\eta} \text{ on } \partial\Omega, \end{array} \right. \end{equation*} where $\eta\ge 0$ and $f,\lambda$ and $g$ are nonnegative integrable functions. The set $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^N (N> 2)$ is open and bounded with smooth boundary and $\nu$ denotes its unit outward normal vector. More generally, we handle equations driven by monotone operators of $p$-Laplacian type jointly with nonlinear boundary conditions. We prove existence of an entropy solution and check that this solution is unique under natural assumptions. Among other features, we study the regularizing effect given to the solution by both the absorption and the nonlinear boundary term.

We study the asymptotic behaviour, as $p\to 1^{+}$, of the solutions of the following inhomogeneous Robin boundary value problem: \begin{equation} \label{pbabstract} \tag{P} \left\{\begin{array}{ll} \displaystyle -\Delta_p u_p = f & \text{in }\Omega, \displaystyle |\nabla u_p|^{p-2}\nabla u_p\cdot \nu +\lambda |u_p|^{p-2}u_p = g& \text{on } \partial\Omega, \end{array}\right. \end{equation} where $\Omega$ is a bounded domain in $\mathbb R^{N}$ with sufficiently smooth boundary, $\nu$ is its unit outward normal vector and $\Delta_p v$ is the $p$-Laplacian operator with $p>1$. The data $f\in L^{N,\infty}(\Omega)$ (which denotes the Marcinkiewicz space) and $\lambda,g$ are bounded functions defined on $\partial\Omega$ with $\lambda\ge0$. We find the threshold below which the family of $p$--solutions goes to 0 and above which this family blows up. As a second interest we deal with the $1$-Laplacian problem formally arising by taking $p\to 1^+$ in \eqref{pbabstract}.

In this paper we study the $\Gamma$-limit, as $p\to 1$, of the functional $$ J_{p}(u)=\frac{\displaystyle\int_\Omega |\nabla u|^p + \beta\int_{ \partial \Omega} |u|^p}{\displaystyle \int_\Omega |u|^p}, $$ where $\Omega$ is a smooth bounded open set in $\mathbb R^{N}$, $p>1$ and $\beta$ is a real number. Among our results, for $\beta >-1$, we derive an isoperimetric inequality for \[ \Lambda(\Omega,\beta)=\inf_{u \in BV(\Omega), u\not \equiv 0} \frac{\displaystyle |Du|(\Omega) + \min(\beta,1)\int_{ \partial \Omega} |u|}{\displaystyle \int_\Omega |u|} \] which is the limit as $p\to 1^{+}$ of $ \lambda(\Omega,p,\beta)= \displaystyle \min_{u\in W^{1,p}(\Omega)} J_{p}(u). $ We show that among all bounded and smooth open sets with given volume, the ball maximizes $\Lambda(\Omega, \beta)$ when $\beta \in$ $(-1,0)$ and minimizes $\Lambda(\Omega, \beta)$ when $\beta \in[0, \infty)$.

We deal with existence, uniqueness and regularity of nonnegative solutions to a Dirichlet problem for equations as \begin{equation*} \displaystyle -\operatorname{div}\left(\frac{|\nabla u|^{p-2}\nabla u}{(1+u)^{\theta(p-1)}}\right) = h(u)f \quad \text{in }\Omega, \end{equation*} where $\Omega$ is an open bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$ ($N\ge 2$), $p>1$, $\theta\ge 0$, $f\geq 0$ belongs to a suitable Lebesgue space and $h$ is a continuous, nonnegative function which may blow up at zero and it is bounded at infinity., Comment: 37 pages

In this paper we prove existence of nonnegative solutions to parabolic Cauchy-Dirichlet problems with superlinear gradient terms which are possibly singular. The model equation is \[ u_t - \Delta_pu=g(u)|\nabla u|^q+h(u)f(t,x)\qquad \text{in }(0,T)\times\Omega, \] where $\Omega$ is an open bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$ with $N>2$, $0

We study the Dirichlet problem for an elliptic equation involving the $1$-Laplace operator and a reaction term, namely: $$ \left\{\begin{array}{ll} \displaystyle -\Delta_1 u =h(u)f(x)&\hbox{in }\Omega\,,\\ u=0&\hbox{on }\partial\Omega\,, \end{array}\right. $$ where $ \Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^N$ is an open bounded set having Lipschitz boundary, $f\in L^1(\Omega)$ is nonnegative, and $h$ is a continuous real function that may possibly blow up at zero. We investigate optimal ranges for the data in order to obtain existence, nonexistence and (whenever expected) uniqueness of nonnegative solutions.

We deal with existence and uniqueness of positive solutions of an elliptic boundary value problem modeled by \begin{equation*} \begin{cases} \displaystyle -\Delta_p u= \frac{f}{u^\gamma} + g u^q & \mbox{in $\Omega$,} \\ u = 0 & \mbox{on $\partial\Omega$,} \end{cases} \end{equation*} where $\Omega$ is an open bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$, $\Delta_p u:=\text{div}(|\nabla u|^{p-2}\nabla u)$ is the usual $p$-Laplacian operator, $\gamma\geq 0$ and $0\leq q\leq p-1$; $f$ and $g$ are nonnegative functions belonging to suitable Lebesgue spaces.

We show optimal existence, nonexistence and regularity results for nonnegative solutions to Dirichlet problems as $$ \begin{cases} \displaystyle -\Delta_1 u = g(u)|D u|+h(u)f & \text{in}\;\Omega,\\ u=0 & \text{on}\;\partial\Omega, \end{cases} $$ where $\Omega$ is an open bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$, $f\geq 0$ belongs to $L^N(\Omega)$, and $g$ and $h$ are continuous functions that may blow up at zero. As a noteworthy fact we show how a non-trivial interaction mechanism between the two nonlinearities $g$ and $h$ produces remarkable regularizing effects on the solutions. The sharpness of our main results is discussed through the use of appropriate explicit examples.

We study existence of nonnegative solutions to a nonlinear parabolic boundary value problem with a general singular lower order term and a nonnegative measure as nonhomogeneous datum, of the form $$ \begin{cases} \displaystyle u_t - \Delta_p u = h(u)f+\mu & \text{in}\ \Omega \times (0,T),\\ u=0 &\text{on}\ \partial\Omega \times (0,T),\\ u=u_0 &\text{in}\ \Omega \times \{0\}, \end{cases} $$ where $\Omega$ is an open bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$ ($N\ge2$), $u_0$ is a nonnegative integrable function, $\Delta_p$ is the $p$-laplace operator, $\mu$ is a nonnegative bounded Radon measure on $\Omega \times (0,T)$ and $f$ is a nonnegative function of $L^1(\Omega \times (0,T))$. The term $h$ is a positive continuous function possibly blowing up at the origin. Furthermore, we show uniqueness of finite energy solutions in presence of a nonincreasing $h$.

We consider weak positive solutions to the critical $p$-Laplace equation with Hardy potential in $\mathbb R^N$ $$-\Delta_p u -\frac{\gamma}{|x|^p} u^{p-1}=u^{p^*-1}$$ where $1

We prove existence of solutions to problems whose model is $$\begin{cases} \displaystyle -\Delta_p u + u^q = \frac{f}{u^\gamma} & \text{in}\ \Omega, \newline u\ge0 &\text{in}\ \Omega,\newline u=0 &\text{on}\ \partial\Omega, \end{cases}$$ where $\Omega$ is an open bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$ ($N\ge2$), $\Delta_p u$ is the $p$-laplacian operator for $1\le p 0$, $\gamma\ge 0$ and $f$ is a nonnegative function in $L^m(\Omega)$ for some $m\ge1$. In particular we analyze the regularizing effect produced by the absorption term in order to infer the existence of finite energy solutions in case $\gamma\le 1$. We also study uniqueness of these solutions as well as examples which show the optimality of the results. Finally, we find local $W^{1,p}$-solutions in case $\gamma>1$.

In this paper, under very general assumptions, we prove existence and regularity of distributional solutions to homogeneous Dirichlet problems of the form $$\begin{cases} \displaystyle - \Delta_{1} u = h(u)f & \text{in}\, \Omega,\newline u\geq 0& \text{in}\ \Omega, \newline u=0 & \text{on}\ \partial \Omega, \end{cases} $$ where, $\Delta_{1} $ is the $1$-laplace operator, $\Omega$ is a bounded open subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$ with Lipschitz boundary, $h(s)$ is a continuous function which may become singular at $s=0^{+}$, and $f$ is a nonnegative datum in $L^{N,\infty}(\Omega)$ with suitable small norm. Uniqueness of solutions is also shown provided $h$ is decreasing and $f>0$. As a by-product of our method a general theory for the same problem involving the $p$-laplacian as principal part, which is missed in the literature, is established. The main assumptions we use are also further discussed in order to show their optimality.

We study existence and uniqueness of solutions to a nonlinear elliptic boundary value problem with a general, and possibly singular, lower order term, whose model is $$\begin{cases} -\Delta_p u = H(u)\mu & \text{in}\ \Omega,\\ u>0 &\text{in}\ \Omega,\\ u=0 &\text{on}\ \partial\Omega. \end{cases}$$ Here $\Omega$ is an open bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$ ($N\ge2$), $\Delta_p u:= \operatorname{div}(|\nabla u|^{p-2}\nabla u)$ ($1

We establish existence and uniqueness of solution for the homogeneous Dirichlet problem associated to a fairly general class of elliptic equations modeled by $$ -\Delta u= h(u){f} \ \ \text{in}\,\ \Omega, $$ where $f$ is an irregular datum, possibly a measure, and $h$ is a continuous function that may blow up at zero. We also provide regularity results on both the solution and the lower order term depending on the regularity of the data, and we discuss their optimality.

We prove existence of solutions for a class of singular elliptic problems with a general measure as source term whose model is $$\begin{cases} -\Delta u = \frac{f(x)}{u^{\gamma}} +\mu & \text{in}\ \Omega, u=0 &\text{on}\ \partial\Omega, u>0 &\text{on}\ \Omega, \end{cases} $$ where $\Omega$ is an open bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$. Here $\gamma > 0$, $f$ is a nonnegative function on $\Omega$, and $\mu$ is a nonnegative bounded Radon measure on $\Omega$.