Non-negative solutions of a sublinear elliptic problem

In this paper, the existence of solutions, ( λ , u ) , of the problem - Δ u = λ u - a ( x ) | u | p - 1 u in Ω , u = 0 on ∂ Ω , is explored for 0 < p < 1 . When p > 1 , it is known that there is an unbounded component of such solutions bifurcating from ( σ 1 , 0 ) , where σ 1 is the smallest eigenvalue of - Δ in Ω under Dirichlet boundary conditions on ∂ Ω . These solutions have u ∈ P , the interior of the positive cone. The continuation argument used when p > 1 to keep u ∈ P fails if 0 < p < 1 . Nevertheless when 0 < p < 1 , we are still able to show that there is a component of solutions bifurcating from ( σ 1 , ∞ ) , unbounded outside of a neighborhood of ( σ 1 , ∞ ) , and having u ⪈ 0 . This non-negativity for u cannot be improved as is shown via a detailed analysis of the simplest autonomous one-dimensional version of the problem: its set of non-negative solutions possesses a countable set of components, each of them consisting of positive solutions with a fixed (arbitrary) number of bumps. Finally, the structure of these components is fully described.