Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 December 2018
In this paper, we analyse the semilinear fourth-order problem ( − Δ)2u = g(u) in exterior domains of ℝN. Assuming the function g is nondecreasing and continuous in [0, + ∞) and positive in (0, + ∞), we show that positive classical supersolutions u of the problem which additionally verify − Δu > 0 exist if and only if N ≥ 5 and
$$\int_0^\delta \displaystyle{{g(s)}\over{s^{(({2(N-2)})/({N-4}))}}} {\rm d}s \lt + \infty$$