\documentclass[reqno]{amsart}
\usepackage{hyperref}

\AtBeginDocument{{\noindent\small
\emph{Electronic Journal of Differential Equations},
Vol. 2017 (2017), No. 250, pp. 1--15.\newline
ISSN: 1072-6691. URL: http://ejde.math.txstate.edu or http://ejde.math.unt.edu}
\thanks{\copyright 2017 Texas State University.}
\vspace{8mm}}

\begin{document}
\title[\hfilneg EJDE-2017/250\hfil Fourth-order elliptic equations]
{Multiplicity and concentration of solutions for fourth-order elliptic
equations with mixed nonlinearity}

\author[W. Zhang, X. Tang, J. Zhang, Z. Luo \hfil EJDE-2017/250\hfilneg]
{Wen Zhang, Xianhua Tang, Jian Zhang, Zhiming Luo}

\address{Wen Zhang \newline
School of Mathematics and Statistics,
Hunan University of Commerce,
Changsha, 410205 Hunan, China.\newline
Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Mobile Business Intelligence,
Hunan University of Commerce,
Changsha, 410205 Hunan, China}
\email{zwmathcsu@163.com}

\address{Xianhua Tang \newline
School of Mathematics and Statistics,
Central South University,
Changsha, Hunan 410083, China}
\email{tangxh@mail.csu.edu.cn}

\address{Jian Zhang \newline
School of Mathematics and Statistics,
Hunan University of Commerce,
Changsha, 410205 Hunan, China.\newline
Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Mobile Business Intelligence,
Hunan University of Commerce,
Changsha, 410205 Hunan, China}
\email{zhangjian433130@163.com}

\address{Zhiming Luo (corresponding author) \newline
School of Mathematics and Statistics,
Hunan University of Commerce,
Changsha, 410205 Hunan, China}
\email{zhmluo2007@163.com}

\dedicatory{Communicated by Paul H. Rabinowtiz}

\thanks{Submitted June 16, 2017. Published October 10, 2017.}
\subjclass[2010]{35J35, 35J60}
\keywords{Fourth-order elliptic equations; concentration;
 mixed nonlinearity;
\hfill\break\indent concave-convex nonlinearity; variational methods}

\begin{abstract}
 This article concerns the fourth-order elliptic equation
 \begin{gather*}
 \Delta^2u-\Delta u+\lambda V(x)u=f(x, u)+\mu \xi(x)|u|^{p-2}u, \quad
 x\in \mathbb{R}^{N},\\
 u\in H^2(\mathbb{R}^{N}),
 \end{gather*}
 where $\lambda >0$ is a parameter, $V\in C(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R})$
 and $V^{-1}(0)$ has nonempty interior. Under some mild assumptions,
 we establish the existence of two  nontrivial solutions.
 Moreover, the concentration of these solutions is explored on the set
 $V^{-1}(0)$ as $\lambda\to\infty$. As an application, we give the similar
 results and concentration phenomenona for the above problem with concave
 and convex nonlinearities.
\end{abstract}

\maketitle
\numberwithin{equation}{section}
\newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}[section]
\newtheorem{lemma}[theorem]{Lemma}
\newtheorem{remark}[theorem]{Remark}
\newtheorem{corollary}[theorem]{Corollary}
\allowdisplaybreaks

\section{Introduction}

This article concerns the  fourth-order elliptic equation
\begin{equation}\label{1.1}
 \begin{gathered}
\Delta^2u-\Delta u+\lambda V(x)u=f(x, u)+\mu \xi(x)|u|^{p-2}u,\quad
x\in\mathbb{R}^N,\\
u\in H^2(\mathbb{R}^N),
\end{gathered}
\end{equation}
 where $\Delta^2:=\Delta(\Delta)$ is the biharmonic operator,
$V\in C(\mathbb{R}^{N})$, $f\in C(\mathbb{R}^{N}\times \mathbb{R})$,
$\xi\in L^{\frac{2}{2-p}}(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R}^{+})$, $\lambda>0$,
$\mu>0$ and $1<p<2$.

 Problem \eqref{1.1} arises in the study of travelling waves
in suspension bridge and the study of the static deflection of
an elastic plate in a fluid, see \cite{CM,LM,MW}. There are many results
for fourth-order elliptic equations, but most of them are focused on
bounded domains, see \cite{AEW,AL,AH,B,PWT,WZZ,W,YZ,ZW,ZW1} and the
references therein. Recently, the case of the whole space $\mathbb{R}^N$
was also considered in some works, see 
\cite{LCW,YW,YT,YT1,ZTZ,ZTZ1,ZTZ2,ZTCZ,ZZL}.
 For the whole space $\mathbb{R}^N$ case, the main difficulty of this problem
is the lack of compactness for Sobolev embedding theorem. In
order to overcome this difficulty, some authors assumed that the potential $V$
satisfies certain coercive condition; that is,
\vskip2mm
\begin{itemize}
\item[(A1)] $V(x)\in C(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R})$ and
$\inf_{x\in\mathbb{R}^{N}}V(x)\geq a>0$, where $a$ is a positive constant;

\item[(A2)] for any $b>0$,$\operatorname{meas}(V_{b})<+\infty$, where meas
denotes the Lebesgue
measure and $V_{b}:=\{x\in \mathbb{R}^{N}|V(x)\leq b\}$.
\end{itemize}
The authors in \cite{YW,YT,ZTZ1,ZTZ2} established the existence of infinitely
 many solutions under
various hypotheses on the nonlinearity. Zhang et al.\ \cite{ZTCZ} studied
the sign-changing
solutions of problem \eqref{1.1} with Kirchhoff-type.
When replacing (A2) by a more general assumption:
\begin{itemize}
\item[(A3)] there is $b>0$ such that $\operatorname{meas}(V_{b})<+\infty$,
\end{itemize}
the compactness of the embedding fails and this situation becomes more delicate.
Recently, the authors in \cite{LCW,YT1} considered the following equation
with a parameter under condition (A3),
\begin{gather*}
\Delta^2u-\Delta u+\lambda V(x)u=f(x, u), \quad x\in\mathbb{R}^N,\\
u\in H^2(\mathbb{R}^N).
\end{gather*}
With the aid of a parameter, they proved that the energy functional possess
the property of being locally compact.
Moreover, the authors of these article proved the existence of infinitely
many high energy solutions for superlinear case.
For somewhat related sublinear case and the existence of infinitely many small
negative-energy solutions, see also \cite{YT,YT1,ZTZ}.
 For the singularly perturbed problem
\begin{equation}
 \begin{gathered}
\epsilon^{4}\Delta^2u+V(x)u=f(u), \quad x\in\mathbb{R}^N,\\
u\in H^2(\mathbb{R}^N),
\end{gathered}
\end{equation}
the authors \cite{PS,PS1} considered when the potential $V$ is positive and
has global minimum. They obtained the existence of semi-classical solutions.
Moreover, they also shown the concentration phenomenon of semi-classical
solutions around global minimum of the potential $V$ as $\epsilon\to0$.

Motivated by the above papers,  we will consider problem \eqref{1.1}
 with steep well potential, and study the existence of nontrivial solution
and concentration results (as $\lambda\to\infty$).
To deduce our statements, we need to make the following assumptions on
 potential $V$:
\vskip2mm
\begin{itemize}
\item[(A4)] $V(x)\in C(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R})$ and $V(x)\geq 0$ on
$\mathbb{R}^{N}$;

\item[(A5)] $\Omega=\operatorname{int} V^{-1}(0)$ is nonempty and has
smooth boundary with $\bar{\Omega}=V^{-1}(0)$.
\end{itemize}
This kind of hypotheses was first introduced by Bartsch and Wang \cite{BW}
(see also \cite{BPW}) in the study of a nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation
 and the potential $\lambda V(x)$ with $V$
satisfying (A3)--(A5) is referred as the steep well potential.
It is worth mentioning that the above papers always assumed the potential
$V$ is positive ($V>0$).
Compared with the case $V>0$, our assumptions on $V$ are rather weak,
 and perhaps more important.
Generally speaking, there may exist some behaviours and phenomenons for the solutions
of problem \eqref{1.1} under condition (A5), such as the concentration
phenomenon of solutions.
Very recently, in \cite{ZTZ3}, the authors considered this case, and proved
the existence and concentration of solutions when the nonlinearity is only sublinear.
Besides, we are also interested in the case that the nonlinearity is a more general
mixed nonlinearity involving a combination of superlinear ($f(x,u)$) and
sublinear ($\xi(x)|u|^{p-2}u$,
 $\xi\in L^{\frac{2}{2-p}}(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R}^{+})$ and $1<p<2$) terms.
To the best of our knowledge, few works concerning on this case up to now.
Based on the above facts, the main purpose of this paper is to prove the
existence of nontrivial solutions and to investigate the
concentration phenomenon of solutions on the set $V^{-1}(0)$ as $\lambda\to
\infty$. In order to state our results, we need the following assumptions
for superlinear term $f(x,u)$:
\begin{itemize}
\item[(A6)] $f\in C(\mathbb{R}^{N}\times \mathbb{R})$ and
$|f(x, u)|\leq c\left(1+|u|^{q-1}\right)$ for some $q\in (2, 2_{\ast})$,
 where $2_{\ast}=\frac{2N}{N-4}$ if $N>4$, $2_{\ast}=\infty$ if $N\leq 4$;

\item[(A7)] $f(x, u)=o(|u|)$ as $|u|\to 0$ uniformly for $x\in \mathbb{R}^{N}$;

\item[(A8)] there exists $\theta >2$ such that $0<\theta F(x, u)\leq uf(x, u)$
for every $x\in \mathbb{R}^{N}$ and $u \neq 0$, where
$F(x, u)=\int_0^{u}f(x, t)dt$.
\end{itemize}

On the existence of solutions we have the following result.

 \begin{theorem} \label{thm1.1}
 Assume that the conditions {\rm (A3)--(A8)} hold, and
$\xi\in L^{\frac{2}{2-p}}(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R}^{+})$ $(1<p<2)$,
 then there exist two positive constants $\Lambda_0$ and $\mu_0$ such that
 for every $\lambda>\Lambda_0$ and $0<\mu<\mu_0$,
problem \eqref{1.1} has at least two nontrivial
 solutions $u_{\lambda}^{i}$ $(i=1, 2)$.
\end{theorem}

 On the concentration of solutions we have the following result.

 \begin{theorem} \label{thm1.2}
 Let $u_{\lambda}^{i}$, $(i=1, 2)$ be the solutions of problem \eqref{1.1} obtained
 in Theorem \ref{thm1.1} and $\mu\in(0,\mu_0)$, then $u_{\lambda}^{i}\to u_0^{i}$
in $H^2(\mathbb{R}^{N})$  as $\lambda\to \infty$, where
$u_0^{i}\in H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)$
 are nontrivial solutions of the equation
 \begin{equation}\label{1.2}
\begin{gathered}
\Delta^2u-\Delta u=f(x, u)+\mu \xi(x)|u|^{p-2}u, \quad \text{in }\Omega,\\
u=\Delta u=0,\quad \text{on }\partial\Omega.
\end{gathered}
 \end{equation}
\end{theorem}

 A model of nonlinearity is
 \begin{equation}\label{1.3}
g(x,u):=|u|^{q-2}u+\mu \xi(x)|u|^{p-2}u
\end{equation}
with $1<p<2<q<2_{*}$ and $\xi\in L^{\frac{2}{2-p}}(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R}^{+})$.
Clearly, $g(x,u)$ satisfies (A6)--(A8). Following \cite{ABC},
the nonlinear term $g(x,u)$ is called concave and convex nonlinear term.
Therefore, our results can be applied to the concave and convex nonlinear
term case. As a consequence, we have

\begin{corollary} \label{coro1.3}
 Assume that the conditions {\rm (A3)--(A5)} are satisfied and let the
nonlinearity be of the form \eqref{1.3},
 then there exist two positive constants $\Lambda_0$ and $\mu_0$ such that
 for every $\lambda>\Lambda_0$ and $0<\mu<\mu_0$, problem \eqref{1.1}
 has at least two nontrivial  solutions $u_{\lambda}^{i}$ $(i=1, 2)$.
\end{corollary}


\begin{corollary} \label{coro1.4}
 Let $u_{\lambda}^{i}$, $(i=1, 2)$ be the solutions of problem \eqref{1.1}
 obtained  in Corollary \ref{coro1.3} and $\mu\in(0,\mu_0)$, then
$u_{\lambda}^{i}\to u_0^{i}$ in $H^2(\mathbb{R}^{N})$
 as $\lambda\to \infty$, where $u_0^{i}\in H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)$
 are nontrivial solutions of the equation
 \begin{equation}
\begin{gathered}
\Delta^2u-\Delta u=|u|^{q-2}u+\mu \xi(x)|u|^{p-2}u, \quad \text{in }\Omega,\\
u=\Delta u=0,\quad \text{on}~\partial\Omega.
\end{gathered}
\end{equation}
\end{corollary}

 \begin{remark} \label{rmk1.5} \rm
Compared with the previous works, our results seem more general
 and complete, which is reflected in the following aspects.
 On the one hand, our assumptions on $V$ are much weaker, and the
existence and multiplicity
of nontrivial solutions are obtained without any symmetric assumption.
On the other hand, more importantly, we also explore the phenomenon
of concentrations of these solutions as $\lambda\to\infty$,
which seems to be rarely concerned in the previous studies.
\end{remark}


The rest of this article is organized as follows.
In Section $2$, we establish the variational framework associated with
problem \eqref{1.1}, and we also give the proof of Theorem \ref{thm1.1}. In
Section $3$, we study the concentration of solutions and prove Theorem \ref{thm1.2}.


\section{Variational setting and proof of Theorem \ref{thm1.1}}

 Below by $\|\cdot\|_{s}$ we denote the usual $L^{s}$-norm for
$2\leq s\leq 2_{\ast}$, $c_{i}$, $C$, $C_{i}$ stand for different positive
constants. Now, we establish the variational setting of problem
\eqref{1.1}.
Let
\[
E=\Big\{u\in H^2(\mathbb{R}^{N}): \int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\left(|\Delta
u|^2+|\nabla u|^2+V(x)u^2\right)dx<+\infty\Big\}
\]
be equipped with the inner product
\[
(u,v)=\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\left(\Delta u \Delta v+\nabla u\cdot \nabla v
+V(x)uv\right)dx,\quad u, v\in E,
\]
and the norm
\[
\|u\|=\Big(\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}(|\Delta u|^2+|\nabla
u|^2+V(x)u^2)dx\Big)^{1/2},\quad u\in E.
\]
For $\lambda>0$, we also need the inner product
\[
(u,v)_{\lambda}=\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\left(\Delta u \Delta v+ \nabla u\cdot \nabla v
+\lambda V(x)uv\right)dx,\quad u, v\in E,
\]
and the corresponding norm $\|u\|_{\lambda}^2=(u,u)_{\lambda}$. It is clear that
$\|u\|\leq \|u\|_{\lambda}$, for $\lambda \geq 1$.

Set $E_{\lambda}=(E, \|\cdot\|_{\lambda})$, then $E_{\lambda}$ is a Hilbert space.
By (A3)-(A4) and the statement of proof of \cite[Lemma 2.1]{YT1},
we can demonstrate that there exists a positive constant $\gamma_0$
(independent of $\lambda$) such that
\[
\|u\|_{H^2(\mathbb{R}^{N})}\leq \gamma_0\|u\|_{\lambda},\quad
\text{for all } u\in E_{\lambda}.
\]
Furthermore, the embedding $E_{\lambda}\hookrightarrow L^{s}(\mathbb{R}^{N})$
is continuous for $s\in[2,2_{*}]$, and
$E_{\lambda}\hookrightarrow L_{\rm loc}^{s}(\mathbb{R}^{N})$ is compact for
$s\in[2,2_{*})$, i.e., there are constants $\gamma_{s}, \gamma_0>0$ such that
\begin{equation}\label{2.1}
\|u\|_{s}\leq \gamma_{s}\|u\|_{{H^2(\mathbb{R}^{N})}}
\leq \gamma_{s}\gamma_0\|u\|_{\lambda},\quad \text{for all }
u\in E_{\lambda},\; 2\leq s\leq 2_{\ast}.
\end{equation}
Let
\begin{equation}\label{2.2}
\Phi_{\lambda}(u)=\frac{1}{2} \int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\left(|\Delta u|^2+|\nabla
u|^2+\lambda V(x)u^2\right)dx-\Psi(u),
\end{equation}
where
\[
\Psi(u)=\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}F(x, u)dx+\frac{\mu}{p}
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u|^{p}dx.
\]
By a standard argument and H\"{o}lder inequality, it is easy to verify
that $\Phi_{\lambda} \in C^1(E_{\lambda}, \mathbb{R})$ and
\begin{equation}\label{2.3}
\langle\Phi_{\lambda}'(u), v\rangle=\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\left[\Delta u \Delta v
+\nabla u \cdot \nabla v+\lambda V(x)uv\right]dx-\langle\Psi'(u),v\rangle,
\end{equation}
for all $u, v\in E_{\lambda}$, where
\[
\langle\Psi'(u),v\rangle=\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}f(x,
u)vdx+\mu \int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u|^{p-2}uvdx.
\]

We say that $I\in C^1(X, \mathbb{R})$ satisfies (PS) condition if any sequence
$\{u_{n}\}$ such that $I(u_{n})\to d$, $I'(u_{n})\to 0$ has a convergent
subsequence. To prove our result, we need the following Mountain Pass Theorem.

 \begin{theorem}[{\cite[Theorem 2.2]{Rabinowitz}}]  \label{thm2.1}
Let $X$ be a real Banach space
 and $I\in C^1(X, \mathbb{R})$ satisfying (PS) condition. Suppose $I(0)=0$ and
 \begin{itemize}
\item[(1)] there are constants $\rho, \eta >0$ such that
$I_{\partial B_{\rho}(0)}\geq \eta$,
\item[(2)] there is an constant $e\in X\setminus \bar{B}_{\rho}(0)$ such that
$I(e)\leq 0$,
then $I$ possesses a critical value $\beta \geq \eta$.
\end{itemize}
\end{theorem}

\begin{lemma} \label{lem2.2}
 Assume that {\rm  (A6), (A7)} are satisfied, and
$\xi\in L^{\frac{2}{2-p}}(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R}^{+})$.
Then there exist three positive constants $\mu_0$, $\rho$ and $\eta$ such that
$\Phi_{\lambda}(u)|_{\|u\|_{\lambda}=\rho}\geq \eta>0$ for all
$\mu \in (0, \mu_0)$.
\end{lemma}

\begin{proof}
 For any $\varepsilon >0$, it follows from
 conditions (A6) and (A7) that there exist $C_{\varepsilon}>0$
such that
\begin{equation}\label{2.4}
F(x, u)\leq \frac{\varepsilon}{2}|u|^2+\frac{C_{\varepsilon}}{q}|u|^{q},\quad
\text{for all } u\in E_{\lambda}.
\end{equation}
Thus, from \eqref{2.1}, \eqref{2.4} and the Sobolev inequality,
we have that for all $u\in E_{\lambda}$,
\[
 \int_{\mathbb{R}^N}F(x,u)dx
\leq \frac{\varepsilon}{2}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}u^2dx+\frac{C_{\varepsilon}}{q}
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}|u|^{q}dx
\leq \frac{\gamma_{2}^2\gamma_0^2\varepsilon}{2}\|u\|_{\lambda}^2+
\frac{C_{\varepsilon}\gamma_{q}^{q}\gamma_0^{q}}{q}\|u\|_{\lambda}^{q},
\]
which implies that
\begin{equation}\label{2.5}
\begin{aligned}
\Phi_{\lambda}(u)
&=\frac{1}{2}\|u\|_{\lambda}^2-\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}F(x,u)dx-
\frac{\mu}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u|^{p}dx\\
&\geq \frac{1}{2}\|u\|_{\lambda}^2-\frac{\gamma_{2}^2\gamma_0^2\varepsilon}{2}\|u\|_{\lambda}^2
-\frac{C_{\varepsilon}\gamma_{q}^{q}\gamma_0^{q}}{q}\|u\|_{\lambda}^{q}
-\frac{\mu
\gamma_{2}^{p}\gamma_0^{p}}{p}\|\xi\|_{\frac{2}{2-p}}\|u\|_{\lambda}^{p}\\
&=\|u\|_{\lambda}^{p}\Big[\frac{1}{2}\left(1-\gamma_{2}^2\gamma_0^2\varepsilon\right)
\|u\|_{\lambda}^{2-p}
-\frac{C_{\varepsilon}\gamma_{q}^{q}\gamma_0^{q}}{q}\|u\|_{\lambda}^{q-p}
-\frac{\mu
\gamma_{2}^{p}\gamma_0^{p}}{p}\|\xi\|_{\frac{2}{2-p}}\Big].
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
Take $\varepsilon =\frac{1}{2\gamma_{2}^2\gamma_0^2}$ and
define
\[
g(t)=\frac{1}{4}t^{2-p}-\frac{C_{\varepsilon}\gamma_{q}^{q}\gamma_0^{q}}{q}t^{q-p},
 \quad \text{for }t\geq 0.
\]
It is easy to prove that there exists $\rho >0$ such that
\[
\max_{t\geq 0}g(t)=g(\rho)=\frac{q-2}{4(q-p)}\left[\frac{(2-p)q}
{4C_{\varepsilon}\gamma_{q}^{q}\gamma_0^{q}(q-p)}\right]^{\frac{2-p}{q-2}}.
\]
Then it follows from \eqref{2.5} that there exist positive constants
$\mu_0$ and $\eta$ such that $\Phi_{\lambda}(u)|_{\|u\|_{\lambda}=\rho}\geq \eta$
for all $\mu \in (0, \mu_0)$.
\end{proof}

 \begin{lemma} \label{lem2.3}
 Assume that {\rm  (A6)--(A8)} are satisfied, and
$\xi\in L^{\frac{2}{2-p}}(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R}^{+})$. Let $\rho$ be as in
 Lemma \ref{lem2.2}. Then there exists $e\in E_{\lambda}$ with $\|e\|_{\lambda}>\rho$
such that $\Phi_{\lambda}(e)<0$ for all $\mu\geq0$.
\end{lemma}

\begin{proof}
By \eqref{2.4} and (A8), there exists  $c>0$ such that
\[
F(x, u)\geq c\left(|u|^{\theta}-|u|^2\right),\quad \forall (x, u)\in
\mathbb{R}^N\times \mathbb{R}.
\]
Thus, for $t> 0$, $u\in E_{\lambda}$, we have
\begin{align*}
\Phi_{\lambda}(tu)
&=\frac{t^2}{2} \|u\|_{\lambda}^2
-\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}F(x, tu)dx
- \frac{\mu}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|tu|^{p}dx\\
&\leq\frac{t^2}{2}
\|u\|_{\lambda}^2-ct^{\theta}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}|u|^{\theta}dx
+ct^2 \int_{\mathbb{R}^N}|u|^2dx-
\frac{\mu}{p}t^{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u|^{p}dx,
\end{align*}
which implies that $\Phi_{\lambda}(tu)\to-\infty$ as $t\to\infty$.
Therefore, there exist $t_0>0$ and $e:=t_0u$ with
$\|e\|_{\lambda}>\rho$ such that
$\Phi_{\lambda}(e)<0$. This completes the proof.
\end{proof}

To find the critical points of $\Phi_{\lambda}$, we shall show that
$\Phi_{\lambda}$ satisfies the (PS) condition, i.e. any (PS) sequence
$\{u_{n}\}$ has a convergent subsequence in $E_{\lambda}$.
Since there is no compactness of the Sobolev embedding, the situation is more
difficult. To overcome this difficulty, we need the following convergence results.

 \begin{lemma} \label{lem2.4}
Suppose that $u_{n}\rightharpoonup u_0$
in $E_{\lambda}$. Then, passing to a subsequence
\begin{gather}\label{2.6}
\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{n})=\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{n}-u_0)+\Phi_{\lambda}(u_0)+o(1), \\
\label{2.7}
\Phi'_{\lambda}(u_{n})=\Phi'_{\lambda}(u_{n}-u_0)+\Phi'_{\lambda}(u_0)+o(1)
\quad \text{as } n\to \infty.
\end{gather}
Particularly, if $\{u_{n}\}$ is a (PS) sequence such that
$\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{n})\to d$ for some $d\in \mathbb{R}$, then
\begin{equation}\label{2.8}
\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{n}-u_0)\to
d-\Phi_{\lambda}(u_0)\quad \text{and}\quad \Phi'_{\lambda}(u_{n}-u_0)\to0
\end{equation}
after passing to a subsequence.
\end{lemma}

\begin{proof}
Since $u_{n}\rightharpoonup u_0$ in $E_{\lambda}$, we have
\[
(u_{n}, u_0)_{\lambda}\to (u_0,
u_0)_{\lambda},\quad \text{as } n\to \infty.
\]
which yields
\begin{align*}
\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2&=(u_{n}-u_0,
u_{n}-u_0)_{\lambda}+(u_0, u_{n})_{\lambda}+(u_{n}-u_0,
u_0)_{\lambda}\\
&=\|u_{n}-u_0\|_{\lambda}^2+\|u_0\|_{\lambda}^2+o(1).
\end{align*}
It is clear that
\[
(u_{n}, \phi)_{\lambda}=(u_{n}-u_0, \phi)_{\lambda}+(u_0,
\phi)_{\lambda}\quad \text{for all }\phi\in E_{\lambda}.
\]
Hence, to obtain \eqref{2.6} and \eqref{2.7}, it sufficient to
check that
\begin{gather}\label{2.9}
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N} \left[F(x, u_{n})-F(x, u_{n}-u_0)-F(x,
u_0)\right]dx=o(1), \\
\label{2.10}
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)
\left[|u_{n}|^{p}-|u_{n}-u_0|^{p}-|u_0|^{p}\right]dx=o(1), \\
\label{2.11}
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\left(f(x, u_{n})-f(x, u_{n}-u_0)-f(x, u_0)\right)\phi dx
=o(1)\quad\forall \phi\in E_{\lambda}, \\
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)\left(|u_{n}|^{p-2}u_{n}-|u_{n}-u_0|^{p-2}(u_{n}-u_0)
-|u_0|^{p-2}u_0\right)\phi dx =o(1) \nonumber\\
\text{for all }\phi\in E_{\lambda}. \label{2.12}
\end{gather}
Here, we only prove \eqref{2.9}$ and \eqref{2.10}$, the verification of
\eqref{2.11} and \eqref{2.12} is similar. Take $\omega_{n}:=u_{n}-u_0$,
we have $\omega_{n}\rightharpoonup 0$ in $E_{\lambda}$ and $\omega_{n}(x)\to 0$
a.e. $x\in \mathbb{R}^{N}$. It follows from (A6) and (A7) that
\begin{gather}\label{2.13}
|f(x, u)|\leq \varepsilon |u|+C_{\varepsilon}|u|^{q-1}\quad
\forall (x, u)\in \mathbb{R}^N\times \mathbb{R}, \\
\label{2.14}
|F(x, u)|\leq \int_0^1|f(x, tu)||u|dt\leq \varepsilon |u|^2
+C_{\varepsilon}|u|^{q},~~\forall (x, u)\in \mathbb{R}^N\times \mathbb{R}.
\end{gather}
Then
\begin{align*}
|F(x, \omega_{n}+u_0)-F(x, \omega_{n})|
&\leq \int_0^1|f(x, \omega_{n}+\zeta u_0)||u_0|d\zeta\\
&\leq \int_0^1\left(\varepsilon |\omega_{n}+\zeta u_0||u_0|
 +C_{\varepsilon}|\omega_{n}+\zeta u_0|^{q-1}|u_0|\right)d\zeta\\
&\leq c_{1}\left(\varepsilon |\omega_{n}||u_0|+\varepsilon |u_0|^2
 +C_{\varepsilon}|\omega_{n}|^{q-1}|u_0|
+C_{\varepsilon}|u_0|^{q}\right).
\end{align*}
By Young's inequality, we have
\[
|F(x, \omega_{n}+u_0)-F(x, \omega_{n})|\leq c_{2}\left(\varepsilon |\omega_{n}|^2
+\varepsilon |u_0|^2+\varepsilon|\omega_{n}|^{q}
+C_{\varepsilon}|u_0|^{q}\right),
\]
so that, using \eqref{2.14}, we obtain
\[
|F(x, \omega_{n}+u_0)-F(x, \omega_{n})-F(x, u_0)|
\leq c_{3}\left(\varepsilon |\omega_{n}|^2
+\varepsilon |u_0|^2+\varepsilon|\omega_{n}|^{q}
+C_{\varepsilon}|u_0|^{q}\right),
\]
for $n\in \mathbb{N}$.
Let
\[
H_{n}(x):=\max\left\{\left|F(x, \omega_{n}+u_0)-F(x, \omega_{n})-F(x, u_0)\right|
-c_{3}\varepsilon \left(|\omega_{n}|^2+|\omega_{n}|^{q}\right), 0\right\}.
\]
It follows that
\[
0\leq H_{n}(x)\leq c_{3}\left(\varepsilon |u_0|^2
+C_{\varepsilon}|u_0|^{q}\right)\in L^1(\mathbb{R}^N).
\]
Thus, using Lebesgue dominated convergence theorem,
\begin{equation}\label{2.15}
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}H_{n}(x)dx\to 0, \quad \text{as } n\to \infty.
\end{equation}
From the definition of $H_{n}(x)$, we have
\[
|F(x, \omega_{n}+u_0)-F(x, \omega_{n})-F(x, u_0)|
\leq c_{3} \varepsilon \left(|\omega_{n}|^2
+ |\omega_{n}|^{q}\right)+H_{n}(x),
\]
for all $n\in \mathbb{N}$.
which, together with \eqref{2.15} and \eqref{2.1}, we obtain
\[
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}|F(x, \omega_{n}+u_0)-F(x, \omega_{n})
-F(x, u_0)|dx \leq c_{3} \varepsilon \left(\|\omega_{n}\|_{2}^2
+\|\omega_{n}\|_{q}^{q}\right)+\varepsilon \leq c_{4}\varepsilon,
\]
for $n$ sufficiently large, hence
\[
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N} \left[F(x, u_{n})-F(x, u_{n}-u_0)-F(x,
u_0)\right]dx=o(1)
\]
that is, \eqref{2.9} holds.

Observe that $\xi\in L^{\frac{2}{2-p}}(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R}^{+})$,
thus, for any $\epsilon>0$ we can choose
$R_{\epsilon}>0$ such that
\begin{equation}\label{2.16}
\Big(\int_{\mathbb{R}^N\setminus B_{R_{\epsilon}}}|\xi(x)|^{\frac{2}{2-p}}dx\Big)
^{\frac{2-p}{2}}<\epsilon.
\end{equation}
By Sobolev's embedding theorem, $u_{n} \rightharpoonup u_0$
in $E_{\lambda}$ implies
$u_{n}\to u_0$ in $L_{\rm loc}^2( \mathbb{R}^{N})$,
and hence,
\begin{equation}\label{2.17}
\lim_{n\to \infty}\int_{B_{R_{\epsilon}}} |u_{n}-u_0|^2dx=0.
\end{equation}
By \eqref{2.17}, there exists $N_0\in \mathbb{N}$ such that
\begin{equation}\label{2.18}
\int_{B_{R_{\epsilon}}} |u_{n}-u_0|^2dx<\epsilon ^2,\quad
\text{for}~n\geq N_0.
\end{equation}
Hence, by \eqref{2.1}, \eqref{2.18} and the H\"{o}lder inequality, for any
$n\geq N_0$, we have
\begin{equation}\label{2.19}
\begin{aligned}
&\frac{\mu}{p}\int_{B_{R_{\epsilon}}}\xi(x)|u_{n}-u_0|^{p}dx \\
&\leq \frac{\mu}{p}
\Big(\int_{B_{R_{\epsilon}}}|\xi(x)|^{\frac{2}{2-p}}dx\Big)^{\frac{2-p}{2}}
\Big(\int_{B_{R_{\epsilon}}} |u_{n}-u_0|^2dx\Big)^{p/2}\\
&\leq \frac{\mu}{p}\epsilon^{p}\|\xi(x)\|_{\frac{2}{2-p}}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
On the other hand, by \eqref{2.1} and \eqref{2.16}, we have
\begin{equation}\label{2.20}
\begin{aligned}
&\frac{\mu}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N\setminus B_{R_{\epsilon}}}\xi(x)|u_{n}-u_0|^{p}dx \\
&\leq \frac{\mu}{p}\Big(\int_{\mathbb{R}^N\setminus B_{R_{\epsilon}}}
|\xi(x)|^{\frac{2}{2-p}}dx\Big)^{\frac{2-p}{2}}
\Big(\int_{\mathbb{R}^N\setminus B_{R_{\epsilon}}} |u_{n}-u_0|^2dx\Big)^{p/2}\\
&\leq \frac{\mu}{p}\epsilon \left(\|u_{n}\|_{2}^{p}+\|u_0\|_{2}^{p}\right)\\
&\leq \frac{\mu}{p}\epsilon \gamma_{2}^{p}\gamma_0^{p}
 \left(\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}^{p}+\|u_0\|_{\lambda}^{p}\right)\\
&\leq \frac{\mu}{p}\epsilon \gamma_{2}^{p}\gamma_0^{p}
 \left(c_{5}^{p}+\|u_0\|_{\lambda}^{p}\right).
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
Since $\epsilon$ is arbitrary, combining \eqref{2.19} with \eqref{2.20}, we have
\begin{gather}\label{2.21}
\frac{\mu}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u_{n}-u_0|^{p}dx=o(1), \\
\frac{\mu}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)\left(|u_{n}|^{p}-|u_0|^{p}\right)dx
\leq \frac{\mu}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u_{n}-u_0|^{p}dx. \nonumber
\end{gather}
Therefore
\[
\frac{\mu}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)\left(|u_{n}|^{p}-
|u_{n}-u_0|^{p}-|u_0|^{p}\right)=o(1),
\]
that is, \eqref{2.10} holds.

Now, we consider the case $\{u_{n}\}$ is a (PS) sequence such that
$\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{n})\to d$ and $\Phi_{\lambda}'(u_{n})\to 0$.
It follows from \eqref{2.6} and \eqref{2.7} that
\begin{equation}\label{2.22}
\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{n}-u_0)=d-\Phi_{\lambda}(u_0)+o(1), \quad
\Phi'_{\lambda}(u_{n}-u_0)=-\Phi'_{\lambda}(u_0)+o(1),
\end{equation}
we show that $\Phi'_{\lambda}(u_0)=0$.
For every $\psi \in C_0^{\infty}(\mathbb{R}^N)$,
it follows from \eqref{2.13} and the
fact that $u_{n}\to u_0$ in $L_{\rm loc}^{s}(\mathbb{R}^N)$ that
\[
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\left(f(x, u_{n})-f(x, u_0)\right)\psi dx
=\int_{\operatorname{supp}\psi}\left(f(x, u_{n})-f(x, u_0)\right)\psi dx=o(1)
\]
and
\begin{align*}
&\mu\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)\left(|u_{n}|^{p-2}u_{n}-|u_0|^{p-2}u_0\right)
 \psi dx \\
&=\mu\int_{\operatorname{supp}\psi}\xi(x)\left(|u_{n}|^{p-2}u_{n}
-|u_0|^{p-2}u_0\right)\psi dx=o(1)
\end{align*}
which implies
\[
\langle \Phi'_{\lambda}(u_0), \psi \rangle
=\lim_{n\to \infty}\langle \Phi'_{\lambda}(u_{n}), \psi \rangle=0.
\]
Hence, $\Phi'_{\lambda}(u_0)=0$, which together with the second equation
of \eqref{2.22} shows that $\Phi'_{\lambda}(u_{n}-u_0)\to 0$
as $n\to \infty$. Consequently, \eqref{2.8} holds and the proof is complete.
\end{proof}

\begin{lemma} \label{lem2.5}
 Let {\rm (A3)--(A5), (A6)--(A8)}
be satisfied, there exists $\Lambda_0>0$, any (PS) sequence of
$\Phi_{\lambda}$ has a convergent
subsequence for all $\lambda\geq\Lambda_0$.
\end{lemma}

\begin{proof}
 We adapt an argument in \cite{DS}. Let $\{u_{n}\}$ be a sequence
such that
$\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{n})\to d$ and $\Phi'_{\lambda}(u_{n})\to 0$
for some $d\in \mathbb{R}$;
thus
\begin{align*}
1+d+\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}
&\geq \Phi_{\lambda}(u_{n})-
\frac{1}{\theta}\langle \Phi'_{\lambda}(u_{n}), u_{n} \rangle\\
&=(\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{\theta})\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2
+\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\big[\frac{1}{\theta}u_{n}f(x, u_{n})-F(x, u_{n})\big]dx \\
&\quad +\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}(\frac{1}{\theta}-\frac{1}{p})\mu\xi(x)|u_{n}|^{p}dx,
\end{align*}
hence
\begin{align*}
&1+d+\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}+(\frac{1}{p}-
\frac{1}{\theta})\mu\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u_{n}|^{p}dx \\
&\geq (\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{\theta})\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2
+\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\left[\frac{1}{\theta}u_{n}f(x, u_{n})-F(x, u_{n})\right]dx.
\end{align*}
Since
\begin{align*}
(\frac{1}{p}-\frac{1}{\theta})\mu\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u_{n}|^{p}dx
&\leq (\frac{1}{p}-\frac{1}{\theta})\mu
 \Big(\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}|\xi(x)|^{\frac{2}{2-p}}dx\Big)^{\frac{2-p}{2}}
\Big(\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}|u_{n}|^2dx\Big)^{p/2}\\
&=(\frac{1}{p}-\frac{1}{\theta})\mu \|\xi\|_{\frac{2}{2-p}}\|u_{n}\|_{2}^{p}\\
&\leq (\frac{1}{p}-\frac{1}{\theta})\mu\gamma_{2}^{p}\gamma_0^{p}
 \|\xi\|_{\frac{2}{2-p}}\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}^{p}.
\end{align*}
Hence,
\begin{align*}
&1+d+\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}+(\frac{1}{p}-
\frac{1}{\theta})\mu\gamma_{2}^{p}\gamma_0^{p}\|\xi\|_{\frac{2}{2-p}}
\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}^{p}\\
&\geq (\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{\theta})\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2
+\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\big[\frac{1}{\theta}u_{n}f(x, u_{n})-F(x, u_{n})\big]dx\\
&\geq (\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{\theta})\|u_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2.
\end{align*}
This proves that $\{u_{n}\}$ is bounded in $E_{\lambda}$.
Then, passing to a subsequence, we may assume that $u_{n}\rightharpoonup u_0$
in $E_{\lambda}$.
Taking $\omega_{n}:=u_{n}-u_0$, we have
\begin{equation}\label{2.23}
\begin{aligned}
\|\omega_{n}\|_{2}^2&\leq \frac{1}{\lambda b}
 \int_{\{x\in\mathbb{R}^{N}:V(x)>b\}}\lambda V(x)\omega_{n}^2dx
 +\int_{V_{b}}\omega_{n}^2dx\\
&\leq \frac{1}{\lambda b}\|\omega_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2+o(1),
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
since $\omega_{n}\rightharpoonup 0$ in $E_{\lambda}$ and $V(x)<b$ on
a set of finite measure. Combining this with \eqref{2.1} and the
H\"{o}lder inequality, we obtain for $2< \sigma<q<2_{\ast}$
\begin{equation}\label{2.24}
\begin{aligned} \|\omega_{n}\|_{\sigma}^{\sigma}&\leq
\|\omega_{n}\|_{2}^{\frac{2(q-\sigma)}{q-2}}\|\omega_{n}\|_{q}^{\frac{q(\sigma-2)}{q-2}}\\
&\leq \big(\frac{1}{\lambda b}\big)^{\frac{q-\sigma}{q-2}}\|\omega_{n}\|_{\lambda}^{\frac{2(q-\sigma)}{q-2}}
\left(\gamma_{q}\gamma_0\|\omega_{n}\|_{\lambda}\right)^{\frac{q(\sigma-2)}{q-2}}+o(1)\\
&\leq (\gamma_{q}\gamma_0)^{\frac{q(\sigma-2)}{q-2}}
\big(\frac{1}{\lambda b}\big)^{\frac{q-\sigma}{q-2}}
\|\omega_{n}\|_{\lambda}^{\sigma}+o(1).
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
For convenience, let $\mathcal{F}(x,u)=\frac{1}{2}f(x,u)u-F(x,u)$.
It follows from Lemma \ref{lem2.4} and \eqref{2.21} that
\begin{equation}\label{2.25}
\begin{aligned}
&\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\mathcal{F}(x, \omega_{n})dx \\
&= \Phi_{\lambda}(\omega_{n})-\frac{1}{2}\langle
\Phi'_{\lambda}(\omega_{n}),
\omega_{n}\rangle-\big(\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{p}\big)\mu
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|\omega_{n}|^{p}dx
\to d-\Phi_{\lambda}(u_0).
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
Therefore, there exists $M>0$ such that
\begin{equation}\label{2.26}
\big|\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\mathcal{F}(x, \omega_{n})dx\big|\leq M.
\end{equation}
Now we note that $\frac{q}{q-2}> \max\{1, \frac{N}{4}\}$ because
$q\in(2, 2_{\ast})$.
Fix $\tau \in \big( \max\{1, \frac{N}{4}\}, \frac{q}{q-2}\big)$,
from \eqref{2.13}, we know if $|u|\geq 1$, then
$|f(x, u)|\leq c_{6}|u|^{q-1}$. Choose $R_{1}$ so large that
$\frac{1}{\theta}\leq\frac{1}{2}-\frac{c_{6}^{\tau-1}}{|u|^{q-(q-2)\tau}}$,
whenever $|u|\geq R_{1}$. Then, for $|u|$ large enough, we have
\begin{align*}
0\leq F(x, u)\leq \frac{1}{\theta}uf(x, u)
&\leq \big[\frac{1}{2}-\frac{c_{6}^{\tau-1}}{|u|^{q-(q-2)\tau}}\big]uf(x, u)\\
&\leq \big[\frac{1}{2}-\frac{|f(x, u)|
^{\tau-1}}{|u|^{\tau+1}}\big]uf(x, u),
\end{align*}
which implies that, for $|u|$ sufficiently large
\begin{equation}\label{2.27}
\frac{\left|f(x, u)\right|
^{\tau}}{|u|^{\tau}}
\leq \frac{1}{2}uf(x, u)-F(x, u)=\mathcal{F}(x, u).
\end{equation}
Combining this with \eqref{2.24}$, \eqref{2.26}$ with
$\sigma=\frac{2\tau}{\tau-1}\in(2, 2_{\ast})$ and the H\"{o}lder inequality,
we obtain for large $n$,
\begin{equation}\label{2.28}
\begin{aligned}
&\int_{|\omega_{n}|\geq R_{1}}f(x, \omega_{n})\omega_{n}dx\\
&\leq\Big(\int_{|\omega_{n}|\geq R_{1}}\big|
 \frac{f(x, \omega_{n})}{\omega_{n}}\big|^{\tau}
dx\Big)^{1\tau}\Big(\int_{|\omega_{n}|\geq R_{1}}|\omega_{n}|^{\sigma}
dx\Big)^{2/\sigma}\\
&\leq \Big(\int_{|\omega_{n}|\geq R_{1}}\mathcal{F}(x, \omega_{n})dx\Big)^{1\tau}
\|\omega_{n}\|_{\sigma}^2\\
&\leq M^{1\tau}(\gamma_{q}\gamma_0)^{\frac{2q(\sigma-2)}{(q-2)\sigma}}
\big(\frac{1}{\lambda b}\big)^{\frac{2(q-\sigma)}{(q-2)\sigma}}
 \|\omega_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2+o(1)\\
&=c_{7}(\frac{1}{\lambda b})^{\theta_{1}}\|\omega_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2+o(1).
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
where $c_{7}=M^{1\tau}(\gamma_{q}\gamma_0)^{\frac{2q(\sigma-2)}{(q-2)\sigma}} >0$,
$\theta_{1}=\frac{2(q-s)}{s(q-2)}>0$. In addition, using
\eqref{2.13} and \eqref{2.24}, we have
\begin{equation}\label{2.29}
\begin{aligned}
\int_{|\omega_{n}|\leq R_{1}}f(x, \omega_{n})\omega_{n}dx
&\leq \int_{|\omega_{n}|\leq R_{1}}\left(\epsilon+C_{\epsilon}R_{1}^{q-2}\right)
\omega_{n}^2dx\\
&\leq \frac{C_{\epsilon}R_{1}^{q-2}}{\lambda b}\|\omega_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2+o(1)\\
&=\frac{c_{8}}{\lambda b}\|\omega_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2+o(1),
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
where $c_{8}=C_{\epsilon}R_{1}^{q-2}$. Consequently, combining \eqref{2.21},
\eqref{2.28} with \eqref{2.29}, we obtain
\begin{align*}
o(1)&=\langle\Phi'_{\lambda}(\omega_{n}), \omega_{n}\rangle\\
&=\|\omega_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2-\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}f(x, \omega_{n})\omega_{n}dx
-\mu \int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|\omega_{n}|^{p}dx\\
&\geq \big[1-\frac{c_{8}}{\lambda b}-c_{7}\big(\frac{1}{\lambda b}\big)^{\theta_{1}}
\big]\|\omega_{n}\|_{\lambda}^2+o(1).
\end{align*}
Choosing $\Lambda_0>0$ large enough such that the term in the
brackets above is positive when $\lambda> \Lambda_0$, we obtain
$\omega_{n}\to 0$ in $E_{\lambda}$, thus
$u_{n}\to u_0$ in $E_{\lambda}$. This completes the proof.
\end{proof}

Define
\[
d_{\lambda}=\inf_{\gamma\in\Gamma_{\lambda}}\max_{0\leq t\leq1}
\Phi_{\lambda}(\gamma(t))
\]
where
$\Gamma_{\lambda}=\big\{\gamma\in C([0,1],E_{\lambda})
:\gamma(0)=0,\gamma(1)=e\big\}$.


\begin{proof}[Proof of Theorem \ref{thm1.1}]
By Theorem \ref{thm2.1}, and Lemmas \ref{lem2.2} and \ref{lem2.3}, we obtain that, for each
$\lambda\geq \Lambda_0$, $0<\mu<\mu_0$,
there exists (PS) sequence $\{u_{n}\}\subset E_{\lambda}$ for $\Phi_{\lambda}$
on $E_{\lambda}$.
Then, by Lemma \ref{lem2.5}, we can conclude that there exist
a subsequence $\{u_{n}\}\subset E_{\lambda}$ and
$u_{\lambda}^1\in E_{\lambda}$ such
that $u_{n}\to u_{\lambda}^1$ in $E_{\lambda}$. Moreover,
$\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{\lambda}^1)=d_{\lambda}\geq \eta >0$.

The second solution of problem \eqref{1.1} will be constructed through the local
minimization. Since $\xi\in L^{\frac{2}{2-p}}(\mathbb{R}^{N},\mathbb{R}^{+})$,
we can choose a function $\phi \in E_{\lambda}$ such that
\[
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|\phi|^{p}dx>0.
\]
Thus, by (A8) we have
\begin{equation}\label{2.30}
\begin{aligned}
\Phi_{\lambda}(l\phi)
&=\frac{l^2}{2} \|\phi\|_{\lambda}^2
-\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}F(x, l\phi)dx
-\frac{\mu l^{p}}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|\phi|^{p}dx\\
&\leq\frac{l^2}{2} \|\phi\|_{\lambda}^2-
\frac{\mu l^{p}}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|\phi|^{p}dx
<0,
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
for $l>0$ small enough. Hence, there exists $\rho_{1}>0$ such that
$\beta:=\inf\{\Phi_{\lambda}(u): u\in \bar{B}_{\rho_{1}}\}<0$.
By the Ekeland's variational principle, there exists a minimizing
sequence $\{u_{n}\}\subset \bar{B}_{\rho_{1}}$ such that
$\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{n})\to \beta$ and $\Phi'_{\lambda}(u_{n})\to 0$
as $n\to \infty$. Hence, Lemma \ref{lem2.5} implies that there exists
a nontrivial solution $u_{\lambda}^2$ of problem \eqref{1.1} satisfying
\[
\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{\lambda}^2)<0\quad \text{and}\quad
\|u_{\lambda}^2\|_{\lambda}<\rho_{1}.
\]
Moreover, \eqref{2.30} implies that there exists $l_0>0$ and $\kappa <0$
are independent of $\lambda$ such that $\Phi_{\lambda}(l_0\phi)=\kappa$
and $\|l_0\phi\|_{\lambda}<\rho_{1}$. Therefore, we can conclude that
\[
\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{\lambda}^2)\leq \kappa <0< \eta < d_{\lambda}=
\Phi_{\lambda}(u_{\lambda}^1)\quad \text{for all }
\lambda> \Lambda_0\text{ and } 0<\mu<\mu_0.
\]
This completes the proof.
\end{proof}

\section{Concentration of solutions}

Here we study the concentration of solutions and
give the proof of Theorem \ref{thm1.2}.
Define
\[
d_0=\inf_{\gamma\in\widetilde{\Gamma}_{\lambda}}
\max_{0\leq t\leq1}\Phi_{\lambda}|_{H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)}(\gamma(t))
\]
where
\[
\widetilde{\Gamma}_{\lambda}=\big\{\gamma\in C([0,1],
H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)):\gamma(0)=0,\gamma(1)=e\big\},
\]
and $\Phi_{\lambda}|_{H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)}$ is a restriction of
$\Phi_{\lambda}$ on $H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)$.
Note that
\[
\Phi_{\lambda}|_{H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)}(u)
=\frac{1}{2}\int_{\Omega}(|\Delta u|^2+|\nabla u|^2)dx
-\int_{\Omega}F(x,u)dx-\mu\int_{\Omega}\xi(x)|u|^{p}dx
\]
and $d_0$ independent of $\lambda$. From the above arguments, we 
conclude that functional $\Phi_{\lambda}|_{H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)}$
has a mountain pass type solution $\tilde{u}$
such that $\Phi_{\lambda}|_{H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)}(\tilde{u})=d_0$.
Since $(H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega))\subset E_{\lambda}$ for all $\lambda>0$,
it is easy to see that $0<\eta< d_{\lambda}<d_0$ for all $\lambda\geq\Lambda_0$
and $0<\mu<\mu_0$. Take $C_0>d_0$, thus
\[
0<\eta< d_{\lambda}<d_0<C_0,\quad \text{for all }
\lambda\geq\Lambda_0 \text{ and } 0<\mu<\mu_0.
\]

\begin{proof}[Proof of Theorem \ref{thm1.2}]
We follow the arguments in \cite{BPW}. For any sequence
$\lambda_{n}\to \infty$, let
$u_{n}^{i}:=u_{\lambda_{n}}^{i}$ be the critical points of
$\Phi_{\lambda_{n}}$ obtained in Theorem \ref{thm1.1} for $i=1, 2$. Since
\begin{equation}\label{3.1}
\Phi_{\lambda_{n}}(u_{n}^2) \leq
\kappa<0<\eta<d_{\lambda_{n}}=\Phi_{\lambda_{n}}(u_{n}^1)
\end{equation}
and
\begin{align*}
&\Phi_{\lambda_{n}}(u_{n}^{i})-\frac{1}{\theta}\langle\Phi'_{\lambda_{n}}
 (u_{n}^{i}),u_{n}^{i}\rangle\\
&=\big(\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{\theta}\big)\|u_{n}^{i}\|_{\lambda_{n}}^2
+\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\big(\frac{1}{\theta}f(x,u_{n}^{i})u_{n}^{i}
 -F(x,u_{n}^{i})\big)dx \\
&\quad -\big(\frac{\mu}{p}-\frac{\mu}{\theta}\big)\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u_{n}^{i}|^{p}dx\\
&=\big(\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{\theta}\big)\|u_{n}^{i}\|_{\lambda_{n}}^2
-\big(\frac{\mu}{p}-\frac{\mu}{\theta}\big)\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u_{n}^{i}|^{p}dx,\\
\end{align*}
it follows that
\begin{equation}\label{3.2}
\|u_{n}^{i}\|_{\lambda_{n}}\leq c_0,
\end{equation}
where the constant $c_0$ is independent of $\lambda_{n}$.
Therefore, we assume that $u_{n}^{i}\rightharpoonup u_0^{i}$
in $E_{\lambda_{n}}$ and $u_{n}^{i}\to u_0^{i}$ in
$L_{\rm loc}^{q}(\mathbb{R}^{N})$ for $2\leq q< 2_{\ast}$. From Fatou's
lemma, we have
\[
\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}V(x)|u_0^{i}|^2dx\leq \liminf_{n\to
\infty}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}V(x)|u_{n}^{i}|^2dx\leq
\liminf_{n\to
\infty}\frac{\|u_{n}^{i}\|_{\lambda_{n}}^2}{\lambda_{n}}=0,
\]
which implies that $u_0^{i}=0$ a.e. in $\mathbb{R}^N \setminus
V^{-1}(0)$ and $u_0^{i}\in H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)$ by
(A5). Now for any $\varphi \in C_0^{\infty}(\Omega)$, since
$\langle \Phi'_{\lambda_{n}}(u_{n}^{i}), \varphi \rangle=0$, it is easy
to verify that
\[
\int_{\Omega}\left(\Delta u_0^{i} \Delta \varphi +\nabla u_0^{i} \cdot
\nabla \varphi \right)dx-\int_{\Omega}f(x, u_0^{i})\varphi dx-
\mu \int_{\mathbb{R}^{N}}\xi(x)|u_0^{i}|^{p-2}u_0^{i}\varphi dx=0,
\]
which implies that $u_0^{i}$ is a weak solution of problem
\eqref{1.2} by the density of $C_0^{\infty}(\Omega)$ in
$H^2(\Omega)\cap H_0^1(\Omega)$.
\par

Now we  prove that
$u_{n}^{i}\to u_0^{i}$ in $L^{q}(\mathbb{R}^{N})$ for $2\leq q<
2_{\ast}$. Otherwise, by Lions vanishing lemma \cite{L,W}, there
exist $\delta>0, R_0>0$ and $x_{n}\in \mathbb{R}^{N}$ such that
\[
\int_{B_{R_0}(x_{n})}|u_{n}^{(i)}-u_0^{i}|^2dx\geq \delta.
\]
Since $u_{n}^{i}\to u_0^{i}$ in $L_{\rm loc}^2(\mathbb{R}^{N})$, $|x_{n}|\to \infty$.
Hence $\operatorname{meas}\left(B_{R_0}(x_{n})\cap V_{b}\right)\to 0$.
By  H\"{o}lder's inequality, we have
\begin{align*}
&\int_{B_{R_0}(x_{n})\cap V_{b}}|u_{n}^{i}-u_0^{i}|^2dx\\
&\leq \left(\operatorname{meas}\left(B_{R_0}(x_{n})\cap V_{b}\right)\right)
^{\frac{2_{*}-2}{2_{*}}}
 \Big(\int_{\mathbb{R}^{N}}|u_{n}^{i}-u_0^{i}|^{2_{*}}\Big)^{2/2_*}
\to 0.
\end{align*}
Consequently,
\begin{align*}
\|u_{n}^{i}\|_{\lambda_{n}}^2&\geq \lambda_{n}b
\int_{B_{R_0}(x_{n})\cap \{x\in \mathbb{R}^{N}:
V(x)\geq b\}}|u_{n}^{i}|^2dx\\
&=\lambda_{n}b\int_{B_{R_0}(x_{n})\cap \{x\in \mathbb{R}^{N}:
V(x)\geq b\}}|u_{n}^{i}-u_0^{i}|^2dx\\
&=\lambda_{n}b\Big(\int_{B_{R_0}(x_{n})}|u_{n}^{i}-u_0^{i}|^2dx
-\int_{B_{R_0}(x_{n})\cap V_{b}}|u_{n}^{i}-u_0^{i}|^2dx+o(1)\Big)\\
&\to \infty,
\end{align*}
which contradicts \eqref{3.2}. 

Next, we show that
$u_{n}^{i}\to u_0^{i}$ in $H^2(\mathbb{R}^{N})$. From
 $\langle\Phi'_{\lambda_{n}}(u_{n}^{i}), u_{n}^{i}\rangle=\langle
\Phi'_{\lambda_{n}}(u_{n}^{i}), u_0^{i}\rangle=0$ and the fact that
$u_{n}^{i}\to u_0^{i}$ in $L^{q}(\mathbb{R}^{N})$ for $2\leq q<
2_{\ast}$, we have
\[
\lim_{n\to \infty}\|u_{n}^{i}\|_{\lambda_{n}}^2=\lim_{n\to \infty}(u_{n}^{i},
u_0^{i})_{\lambda_{n}}=\lim_{n\to \infty}(u_{n}^{i},
u_0^{i})=\|u_0^{i}\|^2,
\]
therefore
\[
\limsup\limits_{n\to\infty}\|u_{n}^{i}\|^2\leq
\|u_0^{i}\|^2.
\]
On the other hand, the weak lower semi-continuity of norm yields
\[
\|u_0^{i}\|^2\leq \liminf_{n\to
\infty} \|u_{n}^{i}\|^2\leq \limsup_{n\to
\infty} \|u_{n}^{i}\|^2\leq \lim_{n\to
\infty} \|u_{n}^{i}\|_{\lambda_{n}}^2,
\]
thus, $u_{n}^{i}\to u_0^{i}$ in $E_{\lambda}$, and so
\[
u_{n}^{i}\to u_0^{i}\quad \text{in } H^2(\mathbb{R}^{N}).
\]
Using \eqref{3.1} and the constants $\kappa, \eta$ are independent of
$\lambda_{n}$, we have
\[
\frac{1}{2} \int_{\Omega}\left(|\Delta u_0^1|^2
+|\nabla u_0^1|^2\right)dx
-\int_{\Omega}F(x, u_0^1)dx-\frac{\mu}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u_0^1|^{p}dx
\geq \eta>0
\]
and
\[
\frac{1}{2} \int_{\Omega}\left(|\Delta u_0^2|^2+|\nabla
u_0^2|^2\right)dx-\int_{\Omega}F(x, u_0^2)dx
-\frac{\mu}{p}\int_{\mathbb{R}^N}\xi(x)|u_0^2|^{p}dx\leq \kappa <0,
\]
which implies that $u_0^{i}\neq 0$ and $u_0^1\neq u_0^2$. This completes the proof.
\end{proof}


\subsection*{Acknowledgements}
This work was supported by the NNSF (Nos. 11701173, 11601145, 11571370, 11471278),
by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (Nos. 2017JJ3130, 2017JJ3131), 
by the Excellent youth project of Education Department of Hunan Province (17B143),
and by the Hunan University of Commerce Innovation Driven Project for Young 
Teacher (16QD008).
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\end{document}
