A threshold phenomenon for embeddings of $${H^m_0}$$ into Orlicz spaces

Given an open bounded domain \({\Omega\subset\mathbb {R}^{2m}}\) with smooth boundary, we consider a sequence \({(u_k)_{k\in\mathbb{N}}}\) of positive smooth solutions to

$\left\{\begin{array}{ll} (-\Delta)^m u_k=\lambda_k u_k e^{mu_k^2} \quad\quad\quad\quad\quad {\rm in}\,\Omega\\ u_k=\partial_\nu u_k=\cdots =\partial_\nu^{m-1} u_k=0 \quad {\rm on }\, \partial \Omega, \end{array}\right.$

where λ _k → 0⁺. Assuming that the sequence is bounded in \({H^m_0(\Omega)}\) , we study its blow-up behavior. We show that if the sequence is not precompact, then

$\liminf_{k\to\infty}\|u_k\|^2_{H^m_0}:=\liminf_{k\to\infty}\int\limits_\Omega u_k(-\Delta)^m u_k dx\geq \Lambda_1,$

where Λ₁ = (2m ? 1)!vol(S ^2m ) is the total Q-curvature of S ^2m .