On the critical points of solutions of Robin boundary problems

Abstract

In this paper we prove the uniqueness of the critical point for stable solutions of the Robin problem \[ \begin{cases} -Δu=f(u)&\text{in }Ω\\ u>0&\text{in }Ω\\ \partial_νu+βu=0&\text{on }\partialΩ, \end{cases} \] where $\Omega \subseteq {\mathbb{R}}^2$ is a smooth and bounded domain with strictly positive curvature of the boundary, $f\ge 0$ is a smooth function and $\beta >0$. Moreover, for $\beta$ large the result fails as soon as the domain is no more convex, even if it is very close to be: indeed, in this case it is possible to find solutions with an arbitrary large number of critical points.