On positive solutions of some semilinear elliptic equations

The existence of positive solutions of some semilinear elliptic equations of the form −Δu = λf(u) is studied. The major results are a nonexistence theorem which gives a λ* = λ*(f,Ω) > 0 below which no positive solutions exist and a lower bound theorem for umax for Ω a ball. As a corollary of the nonexistence theorem that describes the dependence of the number of solutions on λ, two other nonexistence theorems, and an existence theorem are also proved.