Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13660-021-02569-z

RESEARCH Open Access

On the fractional p-Laplacian problems

Q-Heung Choi1 and Tacksun Jung2*
*
Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract
2
Department of Mathematics,
Kunsan National University, Kunsan This paper deals with nonlocal fractional p-Laplacian problems with difference. We
573-701, Korea get a theorem which shows existence of a sequence of weak solutions for a family of
Full list of author information is nonlocal fractional p-Laplacian problems with difference. We first show that there
available at the end of the article
exists a sequence of weak solutions for these problems on the finite-dimensional
subspace. We next show that there exists a limit sequence of a sequence of weak
solutions for finite-dimensional problems, and this limit sequence is a sequence of
the solutions of our problems. We get this result by the estimate of the energy
functional and the compactness property of continuous embedding inclusions
between some special spaces.
MSC: 35K05; 35K25; 35K35; 35K55; 35K92
Keywords: Nonlocal fractional p-Laplacian problems with difference; Fractional
Laplace space; Fractional Sobolev space; Approximation method; Approximation
weak solution; Limit sequence of the approximation weak solutions

1 Introduction
The nonlocal fractional p-Laplacian problems with difference appear in the models of
nonlinear fractional Laplace flows such as the parabolic boundary value problems with
time derivative and the fractional p-Laplacian differential operators. The fractional Lapla-
cian flows arise in applications of nonlinear elasticity theory, electro rheological fluids,
non-Newtonian fluid theory in a porous medium (cf. [9, 31, 40]).
In this paper we consider a family of the fractional p-Laplacian problems of Rothe type
with difference under boundary and initial conditions:

|un |r–1 un – |un–1 |r–1 un–1

(–)sgp un + λV (x)|un |p–2 un + = 0 in , (1.1)
h
un = 0 on ∂,

un (0) = u0 in ,

where  is a bounded domain of RN , N ≥ 3, with smooth boundary ∂, s ∈ (0, 1), p is

a real constant, 2 ≤ p ≤ N , r = p∗s – 1 = N–spNp
– 1, gp is a continuous function defined by
gp (t) = |t| t, t = 0, gp (0) = 0, λ > 0, V :  → [0, ∞) is a continuous function, and un is
p–2

a measurable function defined on  with valued into R, n = 1, 2, . . . , and (–)sgp is the

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Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 2 of 17

fractional p-Laplacian operator defined as follows: for each x ∈ RN and any u ∈ C0∞ (),
  
|u(x) – u(y)| u(x) – u(y) dy
(–)sgp u(x) = P.V. gp
 |x – y|s |u(x) – u(y)| |x – y|N+s

|u(x) – u(y)|p–2 u(x) – u(y) u(x) – u(y) dy
= P.V. , (1.2)
 |x – y|s(p–2) |x – y|s |u(x) – u(y)| |x – y|N+s

where P.V. denotes the Cauchy principle value. For 0 < s < 1, (–)sgp is called the fractional
p-Laplacian operator.
In the last years, for pure mathematical research and concrete real-world applications,
the fractional p-Laplacian operator has been studied on the fractional Sobolev space
   
|u(x) – u(y)|p
W Lgp () = u ∈ Lgp () :
s
dx dy < ∞ ,
  |x – y|N+sp

where Lgp () is the Banach space defined by

   |u(x)|  
Lgp () = u :  → R is a measurable function : gp (t) dt dx < ∞ .
 0

The fractional p-Laplacian operator and the fractional Sobolev space arise in many fields of
science, for example, elastic mechanics (see [40]), electro-rheological fluid dynamics(see
[31]), and image processing (see [6]) and the references therein. When 0 < s < 1, (–)s is
the usual fractional Laplacian operator defined by: for each x ∈ RN and any u ∈ C0∞ (),

u(x) – u(y) u(x) – u(y)
(–)s u(x) = P.V. dy, (1.3)
 |x – y|N+2s |u(x) – u(y)|

where P.V. denotes the Cauchy principle value. Since 0 < s < 1, (–)s is called the frac-
tional Laplacian operator. For the fractional Laplacian operator, see [8, 10, 19] and the
references therein. The fractional Laplacian problems arise from continuum mechanics,
phase transition phenomena, population dynamics, minimum surfaces, and game theory.
The body of literature on the fractional Laplacian operators and their applications is quite
large. We refer the reader to [3, 12, 13, 24–29, 33–38] and the references therein. For the
basic properties of the fractional Sobolev spaces, we refer the readers to [10]. If s → 1– ,
s(·)
(–) 2 reduces to –. For s = 1, we identify (–)s with the classical Laplacian opera-
tor –. If 2 < s < ∞, (1.1) is called s-exponent problems of elliptic type. The s-exponent
Laplacian problems of elliptic type appear in a lot of applications, for example, elastic me-
chanics, electro-rheological fluid dynamics, and image processing. We refer the readers to
[2, 9, 11, 22, 23, 31] and the references therein. In [5, 6, 16], there are some papers concern-
ing related equations involving the fractional Laplacian operator, but results for fractional
Sobolev spaces and the fractional Laplacian operator with exponent are few. In particular,
the fractional Laplacian operator with variable exponent was suggested firstly by Lorenzo
and Hartley [20]. The fractional Laplacian operator with variable exponent and the vari-
able exponent fractional Sobolev space have appeared in a nonlinear diffusion process.
Some diffusion processes reacting to temperature changes can be explained well by frac-
tional derivatives in a nonlocal integro differential operator (see [21]). In [17, 18, 30], the
authors consider the pseudodifferential equations on the fractional Sobolev spaces.
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 3 of 17

In recent years, the Kirchhoff equations involving fractional p-Laplacian have attracted
interest and have been researched by some mathematicians. In particular, when s = 1 and
p = 2, – is the classical Laplace operator. Ji, Fang, and Zhang [15] provided multiplicity
results of solutions for asymptotically linear Kirchhoff equations by using a variant version
of mountain pass theorem and the variational method. When 0 < s < 1 and p = 2, Fiscella
[14] provided the existence of solution for a class of Kirchhoff-type problems involving
fractional Laplacian operator singular term and a critical nonlinearity. When 0 < s < 1 and
1 < p < N/s, Xiang, Zhang, and Rǎdulescu [39] obtained multiplicity results for superlin-
ear Schrödinger–Kirchhoff equations involving fractional N/s-Laplacian with critical ex-
ponential nonlinearity by using the concentration compactness principle in the fractional
Sobolev and mountain pass theorem. When 0 < s < 1 and p = N/s, Mingqi, Rǎdulescu, and
Zhang [25] provided existence and multiplicity of solutions for Kirchhoff equations involv-
ing fractional N/s-Laplacian with critical nonlinearity by the mountain pass geometry and
Ekeland’s variational principle. They [26] also obtained the existence and multiplicity re-
sults of solutions for Kirchhoff equations involving fractional N/s-Laplacian with singular
exponential nonlinearity by using the same methods.
The weak solutions un ∈ W s Lgp () of (1.1) are a measurable function defined on  with
valued into R, n = 1, 2, . . . , and satisfy the following in weak sense:

 
  |un |r–1 un – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
(–)sgp un + λV (x)|un |p–2 un w(x) dx + w(x) dx = 0
  h

for any w ∈ W s Lgp () and

u(x) – u0 → 0 as x → θ .

Our main result is as follows.

Theorem 1.1 Assume that 0 < s < 1, 2 ≤ p < ∞, r = N–spNp

– 1 = p∗s – 1, N > sp u0 ∈ W s Lgp ()
and V : ¯ → [0, ∞) is a continuous function satisfying
(V1 ) J = int(V –1 (0)) ⊂  is a nonempty bounded domain and J̄ = V –1 (0),
(V2 ) there exists a nonempty open domain 0 ⊂ J such that V (x) = 0 for all x ∈ ¯0 .
Then there exists a family of weak solutions un ∈ W s Lgp (), n = 1, 2, . . . of (1.1).

The outline of the proof of Theorem 1.1 is as follows: We first prove the existence of
a sequence of weak solutions for a family of the fractional p-Laplacian difference equa-
tions defined on the finite-dimensional subspace. We next show that there exists a limit
sequence of the sequence of weak solutions for the finite-dimensional problem, and this
limit sequence is the sequence of the solutions of our problem. We get this result by the
estimate of the energy functional and the compactness property of the continuous em-
bedding inclusions between some special spaces. In Sect. 2, we introduce the fractional
Lebesgue space with exponent and the fractional Sobolev space and give some properties.
In Sect. 3, we first prove that problem (1.1) defined on the finite-dimensional subspace has
a sequence of weak solutions for each n = 1, 2, . . . . In Sect. 4, we show that there exists a
limit sequence of the sequence of weak solutions for finite-dimensional problem, and this
limit sequence is a sequence of solutions of our problem (1.1).
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 4 of 17

2 Preliminaries
For the variational setting for our problem, we introduce some definitions and theories on
the fractional Lebesgue space with exponent and the fractional Sobolev space.
Let N ≥ 3 and  be a bounded open domain in RN with smooth boundary ∂. Let
Np
2 ≤ p < ∞ and r = N–sp – 1. The Lebesgue space with p-exponent is

   p1 
p
Lp () = u :  → R is a measurable function : u(x) dx < ∞


with the Luxemburg norm on Lp ()

  p 
u(x)
u Lp () = inf λ > 0 dx ≤ 1 .
 λ

The Sobolev space with p-exponent is


W 1,p
() = u ∈ Lp () :  → R is a measurable function :

  p1 
p
[u]W 1,p () = ∇u(x) dx <∞


with the Sobolev norm

 p p  p1
u W 1,p () = u Lp () + [u]W 1,p () .

1,p
Then Lp () and W 1,p () are Banach spaces. We also define the Sobolev space W0 ()
as the closure of C0∞ () in W 1,p (). The space is also a reflexive Banach space. If p is
bounded, then norm · W 1,p () is equivalent to the norm [·]W 1,p () . If p = ∞, L∞ () is the
Banach space of essentially bounded. If p is bounded and p is the conjugate exponent of
p
p defined by p = p–1 , then the dual space (Lp ()) can be identified with Lp (). If 1 < p <
∞, then the Lebesgue space Lp () with p-exponent is separable and reflexive. In Lp (),
Hölder’s inequality is valid: for all u ∈ Lp (), v ∈ Lp () with 1 < p < ∞, we have

uv dx ≤ 2 u Lp () v Lp () .


1 1
Let us set gp (t) = |t|p–2 t. Then gp–1 (t) = t p–1 if t > 0, gp–1 (t) = –t p–1 if t < 0 and gp–1 (0) = 0. By
Young’s inequality, we have
 r  t
1 1 1
rt ≤ |r|p + |t|p = |x|p–2 x dx + y p–1 dy for all r, t ≥ 0.
p p 0 0

Let Lgp () be the space defined by


Lgp () = u :  → R is a measurable such that
   |v|  
1
sup uv dx; y p–1 dy dx ≤ 1 < ∞
  0
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 5 of 17

equipped with the norm

   |v| 
1
u Lgp = sup uv dx; y p–1 dy dx ≤ 1 .
  0

Then (Lgp (), u Lgp ) is a Banach space whose norm is equivalent to the Luxemburg norm

   | u(x) 
λ |
u gp = inf λ > 0; |t| p–2
t dt dx ≤ 1 .
 0

In Lgp (), Hölder’s inequality is valid: for all u ∈ Lgp (), v ∈ Lgp–1 () with 1 < p < ∞, we
have

|uv| dx ≤ 2 u gp v gp–1 .


Now we introduce the fractional Sobolev space with p-exponent. Let 0 < s < 1 and 2 ≤ p <
∞. The fractional Sobolev space with p-exponent is defined by

    |u(x)–u(y)| 
|x–y|s dx dy
W s Lgp () = u ∈ Lgp () : [u]ps,gp = |t|p–2 t dt <∞
  0 |x – y|N

equipped with the norm

p p p
1
u s,gp = u gp () + [u]s,gp .

Lemma 2.1 ([7]) Let 0 < s < 1 and 2 ≤ p < ∞. Then W s Lgp (RN ) is a reflexive and separable
Banach space. Moreover, C0∞ (RN ) is dense in W s Lgp (RN ).

Let W0s Lgp () denote the closure of C0∞ () in the norm u s,gp .
The following lemma shows that the norm [·]s,gp is a norm of W s Lgp () equivalent to
· s,gp .

Lemma 2.2 ([32]; Generalized Poincaré inequality) Let 0 < s < 1 and 2 ≤ p < ∞. Then
there exists a positive constant C > 0 such that

u gp ≤ [u]s,gp , ∀u ∈ W0s Lgp (). (2.1)

That is, the embedding

W0s Lgp () → Lgp ()

is continuous and compact. Furthermore, [u]s,gp is a norm of W0s Lgp () equivalent to · s,gp .

Np
Lemma 2.3 Let 0 < s < 1, 2 ≤ p < ∞. If N > sp, for any fixed constant exponent q ∈ (1, N–sp ],
W0s Lgp () is continuously embedded into Lgq (). If u ∈ W0s Lgp (), then there exists a con-
stant C1 = C1 (N, p, q, s) > 0 such that

u gq ≤ C1 u s,p . (2.2)
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 6 of 17

Furthermore, [u]s,p is a norm of W0s Lgp (). Moreover, there exists a constant C2 =
C2 (N, p, s) > 0 such that

u gq ≤ C2 [u]s,p . (2.3)

Proof By Theorem 6.7 and Theorem 6.9 of [10], for N > sp and any fixed constant expo-
Np
nent q ∈ (1, N–sp ], W0s Lgp () is continuously embedded into Lgq (). It follows that (2.2)
holds. By combining inequalities (2.1) and (2.2), [u]s,gp is an equivalent norm of W0s Lgp ().
It follows that (2.3) holds. 

Lemma 2.4 Let 0 < s1 < s < s2 < 1 and 2 ≤ p < ∞. Then the embeddings

W0s2 Lgp () → W0s Lgp () → W0s1 Lgp ()

are continuous.

Proof For any u ∈ W0s2 Lgp (), we have

   |u(x)|
|x–y|s dx dy
|t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≥1} 0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)|
|x–y|s1 dx dy
≤ |t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≥1} 0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)|
|z|s1 dx dz
≤ |t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|z|≥1} 0 |x – y|N

p
≤C u(x) dx.


Moreover we have

   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s dx dy
|t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≤1} 0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s2 dx dy
≤ |t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≤1} 0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s2 dx dy
≤ |t|p–2 t dt .
  0 |x – y|N

Thus we have

   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s dx dy
|t|p–2 t dt
  0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s dx dy
≤ |t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≥1} 0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s dx dy
+ |t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≤1} 0 |x – y|N
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 7 of 17

    |u(x)–u(y)|
p |x–y|s dx dy
≤C u(x) dx + |t|p–2 t dt
   0 |x – y|N
    |u(x)–u(y)| 
p |x–y|s2 dx dy
≤C u(x) dx + |t|p–2 t dt .
   0 |x – y|N

It follows from this inequality that we can easily verify that the embedding W0s2 Lgp () →
W0s Lgp () is continuous. Similarly, for any u ∈ W0s Lgp (), we have

   |u(x)|
|x–y|s1 dx dy
|t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≥1} 0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)|
|z|s1 dx dy
≤ |t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|z|≥1} 0 |x – y|N

p
≤D u(x) dx.


Moreover, we have

   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s1 dx dy
|t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≤1} 0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s dx dy
≤ |t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≤1} 0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s dx dy
≤ |t|p–2 t dt .
  0 |x – y|N

Thus we have
   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s1 dx dy
|t|p–2 t dt
  0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s1 dx dy
≤ |t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≥1} 0 |x – y|N
   |u(x)–u(y)|
|x–y|s1 dx dy
+ |t|p–2 t dt
 ∩{|x–y|≤1} 0 |x – y|N
    |u(x)–u(y)|
p |x–y|s dx dy
≤D u(x) dx + |t|p–2 t dt
   0 |x – y|N
    |u(x)–u(y)| 
p |x–y|s dx dy
≤D u(x) dx + |t|
p–2
t dt .
   0 |x – y|N

It follows that the embedding W0s Lgp () → W0s1 Lgp () is continuous. Thus the proof of
the lemma is complete. 

Np
Lemma 2.5 Let 0 < s < 1, 2 ≤ p < ∞. If N > sp, for any fixed constant exponent q ∈ (1, N–sp ],
the embedding

W s Lgp () → Lgq ()

Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 8 of 17

is continuous and compact. That is, if u ∈ W s Lgp (), then there exists a constant D =
D(N, p, s) > 0 such that

u gq ≤D u s,gp .

Furthermore, [u]s,gp is a norm of W0s Lgp (). Moreover, there exists a constant C2 =
C2 (N, p, s) > 0 such that

u gq ≤ C2 [u]s,gp .

Proof Let us set

Np
p∗s = ,
N – sp
u gp∗ (Vi ) = u gp∗ |Vi , [u]s,gp (Vi ) = [u]s,gp |Vi , and u s,gp (Vi ) = u s,gp |Vi .
s s

Since 0 < s < 1 and N > sp, there exists a constant τ1 > 0 such that

p∗s – p ≥ τ1 > 0.

Since  is bounded, there exist a constant > 0 and l numbers of disjoint hypercubes Vi

such that  = li=1 Vi and diam Vi < such that

τ1
p∗s – p ≥ >0
2

on Vi , i = 1, 2, . . . , l. By Lemma 2.3, Theorem 6.7, and Theorem 6.9 of [12], there exists a
constant D = D(N, s, p) such that

1
gp∗ (Vi ) ≤ D
p p p
u
s
u gp (Vi ) + [u]s,gp (Vi ) . (2.4)

By Hölder’s inequality, if q ∈ (1, p∗s ], we have

u gq (Vi ) ≤ D u gp∗ (Vi ).

s

We note that


l
u gq () ≤ u gq (Vi ).
i=1

Thus we have


l 
l
u gq () ≤ u gq (Vi ) ≤ D u gp∗ (Vi ).
s
i=1 i=1

It follows from (2.4) that


l
1
gq () ≤ ≤D u
p p p
u D u gp (Vi ) + [u]s,p (Vi ) s,p .
i=1
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 9 of 17

Thus the embedding W s Lgp () → Lgq () is continuous. Furthermore, we show that the
embedding is compact. In fact, in the constant p∗s on Vi , for q ∈ (1, p∗s ] on Vi , the em-
bedding W s Lgp (Vi ) → Lgq (Vi ) is compact. Thus the embedding W s Lgp () → Lgq () is
compact. It follows that there exists a constant D = D(N, p, s) > 0 such that

u gq ≤D u s,gp . 

By Lemma 2.2, we have the following lemma.

Lemma 2.6 If u, un ∈ W0s Lgp (), n = 1, 2, . . . , then the following statements are equivalent
to each other:
(i) limn→∞ un – u s,gp = 0, i = 1, 2,

(ii) limn→∞  |un – u|p dx = 0 and limn→∞ [un – u]s,gp = 0,
 
(iii) un → u in measure in  and limn→∞  |un |p dx =  |u|p dx.

We need the following inequality for the p-Laplacian operator.

Lemma 2.7 ([1]) Let 1 < p < ∞. Then there exist constants C1 and C2 depending on p and
N such that, for any ξ , η ∈ RN ,

p–2
(i) |ξ |p–2 ξ – |η|p–2 η ≤ C1 |ξ | + |η| |ξ – η|

and

(ii) |ξ |p–2 ξ – |η|p–2 η · (ξ – η) ≥ C2 |ξ – η|p .

We recall a fundamental fact, which is a crucial role for our main result.

Lemma 2.8 ([4]) Assume that Q is a continuous vector field from RN to RN and satisfies

Q(x) · x ≥ 0 if |x| = ρ

for some ρ > 0. Then there exists a point x ∈ Bρ (0) such that

Q(x) = 0,

where Bρ (0) denotes a ball centered at the origin with radius ρ in RN .

3 Existence of approximating solutions

In this section we show that there exists a unique approximating solution for (1.1) on each
finite-dimensional subspace.
Let us choose a family of bases {φi (x)}∞ ∞
i=1 in W0 Lgp () such that {φi (x)}i=1 is an orthonor-
s

∞
mal system in L () and span{φi (x)}i=1 is dense in W0 Lgp (). Let u0 ∈ W0s Lgp (). Since
p s

span{φi (x)}∞ s s
i=1 is dense in W0 Lgp (), any element un in W0 Lgp () and the initial data u0
can be expanded as

∞
 ∞

un (x) = ain φi (x), u0 (x) = ai0 φi (x).
i=1 i=1
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 10 of 17

Let us define the finite subspace Fk of W0s Lgp () by

 
Fk = span φ1 (x), . . . , φk (x) .

Let N be any positive integer which shall be sent to infinity and h be any small pos-

itive number. For any fixed integer k = 1, 2, . . . , let un,k = ki=1 ain,k φi (x) be a family of
the Galerkin approximating solutions for a family of fractional Laplace equations with
p-exponent and difference defined on the finite-dimensional subspaces.
 
(–)sgp un,k · ψ dx + λ V (x)|un,k |p–2 un,k · ψ dx
 

|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · ψ dx = 0, (3.1)
 h

∀ψ ∈ Fk ,


k
u0,k (x) = ai0 φi (x).
i=1

Now we shall show that, for each n = 1, 2, . . . , N and k = 1, 2, . . . , (3.1) has a unique solution
un,k ∈ Fk ⊂ W0s Lgp ().

Lemma 3.1 (Existence of approximating weak solutions) For each n = 1, 2, . . . , N and k =

1, 2, . . . , there exists a unique weak solution un,k ∈ Fk ⊂ W0s Lgp () of (3.1).

Proof Let us choose any element v ∈ Fk ⊂ W0s Lgp (). Then v can be represented by


k
v= ρ i φi .
i=1

Let us set

ρ = ρ 1 , . . . , ρ k ∈ Rk .

i
Let us define the functional Jn,k (ρ) by
  
|v|r–1 v – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
i
Jn,k (ρ) = (–)sgp v · φi dx + λ V (x)|v|p–2 v · φi dx + · φi dx
   h
  p–2
|v(x) – v(y)|
v(x) – v(y) φi (x) – φi (y)
= dx dy
  |x – y|s |x – y|s |x – y|N+s
 
|v|r–1 v – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ λ V (x)|v|p–2 v · φi dx + · v dx.
  h

1
Let us define the functional Jn,k = (Jn.k k
, . . . , Jn,k ) : Rk → Rk . Then Jn,k is continuous on ρ and
satisfies


k
Jn,k (ρ) · ρ = i
Jn,k ρi
i=1
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 11 of 17

 
|v(x) – v(y)|p
= dx dy
  |x – y|
N+sp
 
|v|r–1 v – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ λ V (x)|v|p dx + · v dx. (3.2)
  h

We claim that Jn,k (ρ) · ρ ≥ 0. In fact, by Young’s inequality and generalized Poincaré’s in-
equality of Lemma 2.2, for any > 0, there exists a constant C > 0 such that
  
p–1 rp 1
|un–1 |r–1 un–1 · v dx ≤ |un–1 | p–1 dx + |v|p dx
 p  p 
 rp
≤C |un–1 | p–1 dx + [v]ps,gp .


Thus
 
1
Jn,k (ρ) · ρ ≥ [v]ps,gp + λ V (x)|v|p dx + |v|r+1 dx
 h 

C rp
– |un–1 | p–1 dx – [v]ps,gp . (3.3)
h  h

By (3.2) and (3.3), we have

    
1 C rp
Jn,k (ρ) · ρ ≥ 1 – [v]ps,gp + λ V (x)|v|p dx + |v|r+1 dx – |un–1 | p–1 dx.
h  h  h 

h
Taking > 0 so that = 2
for a small positive number h, we have
  
1 1 C rp
Jn,k (ρ) · ρ ≥ [v]ps,gp + λ V (x)|v|p dx + |v|r+1 dx – |un–1 | p–1 dx. (3.4)
2  h  h 

By Hölder’s inequality and the orthonormality of {φi } in Lgp (), we have

  r+1
2
1
|v| r+1
dx ≥ r–1 |ρ|2 .
 || r+1

Since r + 1 = p∗s > p and λ > 0, we can choose |ρ|2 so large that the right-hand side of
(3.4) is nonnegative. It follows from Lemma 2.8 that Jn,k has a zero. Let this point be ρ =

1
(ρn,k k
, . . . , ρn,k ) and un,k = ki=1 ρn,k
i
φi . Then we have
 
(–)sgp un,k · φi dx + λ V (x)|un,k |p–2 un,k · φi dx
 

|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · φi dx = 0
 h

for all i = 1, . . . , k. Then, for any element ψ ∈ Fk ⊂ W0s Lgp (), we have
 
(–)sgp un,k · ψ dx + λ V (x)|un,k |p–2 un,k · ψ dx
 

|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · ψ dx = 0
 h
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 12 of 17

for all i = 1, . . . , k, i.e.,

 
|un,k (x) – un,k (y)|p–2 un,k (x) – un,k (y) ψ(x) – ψ(y)
dx dy
  |x – y|s(p–2) |x – y|s |x – y|N+s
 
|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ λ V (x)|un,k |p–2 un,k · ψ dx + · ψ dx = 0
  h
k ˜i
for all i = 1, . . . , k. Then un,k = i=1 ρn,k φi is a weak solution of (3.1) on Fk for each integer
n = 1, 2, . . . , N and k = 1, 2, . . . . 

Lemma 3.2 (Energy estimate for finite-dimensional problem) Suppose that

{un,k }n=1,2,...,N;k=1,2,... is a solution of (3.1). Then, for each integer n = 1, 2, . . . , N and k =
1, 2, . . . , we have
  
r |un,k (x) – un,k (y)|p
|un–1 |
r+1
dx ≥ dx dy
(r + 1)h    |x – y|N+sp
 
r
+λ V (x)|un,k |p dx + |un,k |r+1 dx. (3.5)
 (r + 1)h 

Proof Putting ψ = un,k in (3.1), we have

 
(–)sgp un,k · un,k dx + λ V (x)|un,k |p dx
 

|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · un,k dx = 0. (3.6)
 h

That is,

|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
· un,k dx
 h
  
|un,k (x) – un,k (y)|p
=– dx dy – λ V (x)|un,k |p dx. (3.7)
  |x – y|N+sp 

By Young’s inequality, we have

r 1
|un–1 |r–1 un–1 · un,k ≤ |un–1 |r |un,k | ≤ |un–1 |r+1 + |un,k |r+1 .
r+1 r+1

Thus we have

|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
· un,k dx
 h
 
r r
≥ |un,k |r+1 dx – |un–1 |r+1 dx. (3.8)
(r + 1)h  (r + 1)h 

Combining (3.7) and (3.8), we have

  
r |un,k (x) – un,k (y)|p
|un–1 |r+1 dx ≥ dx dy
(r + 1)h    |x – y|N+sp
 
r
+λ V (x)|un,k |p dx + |un,k |r+1 dx.
 (r + 1)h 
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 13 of 17

Thus the lemma is proved. 

4 Proof of Theorem 1.1

In this section we prove Theorem 1.1 by showing that the limit un = limk→∞ un,k of the
subsequence {un,k }n=1,2,...,N;k=1,2,... of the sequence of weak solutions of (3.1) on Fk satisfies
(1.1).

Lemma 4.1 Let {un,k }n=1,2,...,N;k=1,2,... be a solution of (3.1) satisfying

 
(–)sgp un,k · ψ dx + λ V (x)|un,k |p–2 un,k · ψ dx
 

|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · ψ dx = 0
 h

∀ψ ∈ Fk . Then there exists a subsequence, up to a subsequence, {un,k }n=1,2,...,N;k=1,2,... con-

verging to limk→∞ un,k = un such that
(i) un,k → un strongly as k → ∞ in Lgr ().
(ii) |un,k |r–1 un,k → |un |r–1 un strongly as k → ∞ in L1 ().

Proof (i) The sequence un–1 ∈ Lgr+1 () is defined inductively and by Lemma 3.2, {un,k } is
bounded in W0s Lgp (). Since the embedding W0s Lgp () → Lgq () is continuous and com-
Np
pact for any q with 1 ≤ q < N–p = r + 1, the embedding W0s Lgp () → Lgr () is continuous
and compact. Thus the sequence {un,k } has a subsequence, up to a subsequence, {un,k }
converging strongly to limk→∞0 un,k = un in Lgr ().
(ii) By Lemma 2.7 (i), there exist constants C > 0 and C > 0 such that

 

|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un |r–1 un dx ≤ C |un,k |r–1 + |un |r–1 |un,k – un | dx
 
  r–1   1r
 r
≤C |un,k |r + |un |r dx |un,k – un |r dx
 

≤ C un,k – un Lgr .

Since by (i) un,k → un strongly as k → ∞ in Lgr () and un ∈ Lgr (), it follows that
|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un |r–1 un ∈ L1 (). 

Proof of Theorem 1.1 By Lemma 3.1, for each n = 1, 2, . . . , N and k = 1, 2, . . . , there exists a
unique weak solution un,k ∈ Fk ⊂ W0s Lgp () of (3.1). By Lemma 4.1, there exists a subse-
quence, up to a subsequence, {un,k } converging strongly to limk→∞∞ un,k = un in Lgr ().
We shall show that un satisfies (1.1). That is, we shall show that, for any w ∈ W0s Lgp (),

 
(–)sgp un · w dx + λ V (x)|un |p–2 un · w dx
 

|un |r–1 un – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · w dx = 0,
 h
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 14 of 17

i.e.,
 
|un (x) – un (y)|p–2 un (x) – un (y) w(x) – w(y)
dx dy
  |x – y|s(p–2) |x – y|s |x – y|N+s
 
|un |r–1 un – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ λ V (x)|un | un · w dx +
p–2
· w dx = 0.
  h

In fact, for any w ∈ W0s Lgp (), let wk = ki=1 hn,i φi (x) be the approximating sequence which
converges to w in W0s Lgp (). By Lemma 2.7 (ii), there exists a constant C2 > 0 such that


(–)sgp wk – (–)sp un,k · (wk – un,k ) dx

 
(|wk (x) – wk (y)|p–2 (wk (x) – wk (y)) – (|un,k (x) – un,k (y)|p–2 (un,k (x) – un,k (y))
=
  |x – y|s(p–2) |x – y|s
(wk (x) – un,k (x)) – (wk (y) – un,k (y))
· dx dy
|x – y|N+s
 
|(wk (x) – un,k (x)) – (wk (y) – un,k (y))|p
≥ C2 dx dy ≥ 0. (4.1)
  |x – y|N+sp

On the other hand, putting w = un,k in (3.1), we have

 
– (–)sgp un,k · un,k dx = λ V (x)|un,k |p–2 un,k · un,k dx
 

|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · un,k dx. (4.2)
 h

Taking the test function as wk – un,k in (3.1), we have


– (–)sgp un,k · (wk – un,k ) dx


=λ V (x)|un,k |p–2 un,k · (wk – un,k ) dx


|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · (wk – un,k ) dx. (4.3)
 h

By adding (4.1) and (4.2), we have

 
((–)sgp wk · (wk – un,k ) + λ V (x)|un,k |p–2 un,k · (wk – un,k ) dx
 

|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · (wk – un,k ) dx ≥ 0. (4.4)
 h

By the energy estimate theorem Lemma 3.2, there exists a constant C1 > 0 such that
  
r
(–)sgp un,k · un,k dx + λ V (x)|un,k |p dx + |un,k |r+1 dx
  (r + 1)h 
   
|un,k (x) – un,k (y)|p r
= dx dy + λ V (x)|un,k |p dx + |un,k |r+1 dx
  |x – y|N+sp  (r + 1)h 

≤ C1 ,
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 15 of 17

it follows that the sequence {un,k } is bounded in Lgp () and so, up to a subsequence,

un,k converges to un weakly in Lgp ().

Passing to the limit as k → ∞, we have that the first part and the second part of the left-
hand side of (4.4)
 
((–)sgp wk · (wk – un,k ) + λ V (x)|un,k |p–2 un,k · (wk – un,k ) dx
 
 
−→ ((–)sgp w · (w – un ) + λ V (x)|un |p–2 un · (w – un ) dx. (4.5)
 

On the other hand, by (ii) of Lemma 4.1, un,k → un a.e., in  and by Vitali’s converging
theorem, up to a subsequence,

r+1
|un,k |r–1 un,k converges to |un |r–1 un weakly in L r ().

It follows that the third part of the left-hand side of (4.4)


|un,k |r–1 un,k – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
· (wk – un,k ) dx
 h

|un |r–1 un – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
−→ · (w – un ) dx. (4.6)
 h

Combining (4.4), (4.5), and (4.6), we have

 
((–)sgp w · (w – un ) + λ V (x)|un |p–2 un · (w – un ) dx
 

|un |r–1 un – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · (w – un ) dx ≥ 0 (4.7)
 h

for any w ∈ W0s Lgp (). Let us set

w = un + ηψ for any ψ ∈ W0s Lgp () and η > 0.

Inserting the test function w = un + ηψ in (4.7), we have

 
((–)sgp (un + ηψ) · ψ + λ V (x)|un |p–2 un · ψ dx
 

|un |r–1 un – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · ψ dx ≥ 0. (4.8)
 h

Letting η → 0, we have
 
((–)sgp (un ) · ψ +λ V (x)|un |p–2 un · ψ dx
 

|un |r–1 un – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · ψ dx ≥ 0. (4.9)
 h
Choi and Jung Journal of Inequalities and Applications (2021) 2021:41 Page 16 of 17

Replacing ψ by –ψ and letting η → 0 in (4.8), we have

 
((–)sgp (un ) · ψ + λ V (x)|un |p–2 un · ψ dx
 

|un |r–1 un – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · ψ dx ≤ 0. (4.10)
 h

Combining (4.9) and (4.10), we obtain the equality

 
((–)sgp (un ) · ψ + λ V (x)|un |p–2 un · ψ dx
 

|un |r–1 un – |un–1 |r–1 un–1
+ · ψ dx = 0.
 h

Thus the proof of Theorem 1.1 is complete. 

Acknowledgements
Not applicable.

Funding
Q-Heung Choi was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of
Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (NRF-2017R1D1A1B03030024). Tacksun Jung
was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded
by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (NRF-2017R1A2B4005883).

Abbreviations
Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions
QHCh introduced the main ideas of multiplicity study for this problem. TJ participated in applying the method for solving
this problem and drafted the manuscript. All authors contributed equally to reading and approving the final manuscript.

Author details
1
Department of Mathematics Education, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea. 2 Department of Mathematics, Kunsan
National University, Kunsan 573-701, Korea.

Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Received: 13 September 2020 Accepted: 10 February 2021

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