Compact Sobolev-Slobodeckij embeddings and positive solutions to fractional Laplacian equations

In this work, we study the existence of a positive solution to an elliptic equation involving the fractional Laplacian (−Δ) s in ℝ n , for n ≥ 2, such as (0.1) ( − Δ ) s u + E ( x ) u + V ( x ) u q − 1 = K ( x ) f ( u ) + u 2 s ⋆ − 1 . $$(-\Delta)^{s} u+E(x) u+V(x) u^{q-1}=K(x) f(u)+u^{2_{s}^{\star}-1}.$$ Here, s ∈ (0, 1), q ∈ 2 , 2 s ⋆ $q \in\left[2,2_{s}^{\star}\right)$ with 2 s ⋆ := 2 n n − 2 s $2_{s}^{\star}:=\frac{2 n}{n-2 s}$ being the fractional critical Sobolev exponent, E(x), K(x), V(x) > 0 : ℝ n → ℝ are measurable functions which satisfy joint “vanishing at infinity” conditions in a measure-theoretic sense, and f (u) is a continuous function on ℝ of quasi-critical, super-q-linear growth with f (u) ≥ 0 if u ≥ 0. Besides, we study the existence of multiple positive solutions to an elliptic equation in ℝ n such as (0.2) ( − Δ ) s u + E ( x ) u + V ( x ) u q − 1 = λ K ( x ) u r − 1 , $$(-\Delta)^{s} u+E(x) u+V(x) u^{q-1}=\lambda K(x) u^{r-1},$$ where 2 < r < q < ∞(both possibly (super-)critical), E(x), K(x), V(x) > 0 : ℝ n → ℝ are measurable functions satisfying joint integrability conditions, and λ > 0 is a parameter. To study (0.1)-(0.2), we first describe a family of general fractional Sobolev-Slobodeckij spaces Ms ;q,p (ℝ n ) as well as their associated compact embedding results.