Branches of positive solutions of quasilinear elliptic equations on non-smooth domains

We prove existence of an unbounded global branch (i.e. connected set) of weak solutions of a second order quasilinear equation depending on a real parameter λλ on an arbitrary (possibly non-smooth) bounded domain in RNRN, with a Leray–Lions operator as the leading part. Here, we can allow lower order nonlinearities which depend on first derivatives, satisfying appropriate growth conditions including the critical case. Furthermore, we give sufficient conditions for the existence of a branch consisting entirely of nonnegative solutions for positive λλ. Our approach also yields a new existence result in the case of critical growth in derivatives of lower order.