Small perturbations of elliptic problems with variable growth

This paper deals with the study of a nonlinear eigenvalue problem driven by a new class of non-homogeneous differential operators with variable exponent and involving a nonlinear term with variable growth. The framework in the present paper corresponds to the case of small perturbations of the nonlinear term. Combining variational arguments with energy estimates, we establish the existence of eigenvalues in a neighborhood of the origin. Our abstract setting includes several models described by nonhomogeneous differential operators, including the case of the capillarity equation.