In this paper we study the existence of multiple positive solutions and the bifurcation problem for the following equation:

$$ -\Delta u+u=\biggl(\int_{\mathbb{R}^3}\frac{|u(y)|^2}{|x-y|}\,\mathrm{d}y\biggr)u+\mu f(x),\quad x\in\mathbb{R}^3, $$

where $f(x)\in H^{-1}(\mathbb{R}^3)$, $f(x)\geq0$, $f(x)\not\equiv0$. We show that there are positive constants $\mu^{*}$ and $\mu^{**}$ such that the above equation possesses at least two positive solutions for $\mu\in(0,\mu^{*})$, and no positive solution for $\mu>\mu^{**}$. Furthermore, we prove that $\mu=\mu^{*}$ is a bifurcation point for the equation under study.

AMS 2000 Mathematics subject classification: Primary 35J60; 35J70