We call `bits' a sequence of devices indexed by positive integers, where every device can be in two states: 0 (idle) and 1 (active). Start from the `ground state' of the system when all bits are in 0-state. In our first binary flipping (BF) model the evolution of the system behaves as follows. At each time step choose one bit from a given distribution P on the positive integers independently of anything else, then flip the state of this bit to the opposite state. In our second damaged bits (DB) model a `damaged' state is added: each selected idling bit changes to active, but selecting an active bit changes its state to damaged in which it then stays forever. In both models we analyse the recurrence of the system's ground state when no bits are active. We present sufficient conditions for both the BF and DB models to show recurrent or transient behaviour, depending on the properties of the distribution P. We provide a bound for fractional moments of the return time to the ground state for the BF model, and prove a central limit theorem for the number of active bits for both models.

We consider the following nonlinear elliptic equations

\begin{gather*} \begin{cases} \Delta u+u_{+}^{N/(N-2)}=0\amp\quad\text{in }\sOm, \\ u=\mu\amp\quad\text{on }\partial\sOm\quad(\mu\text{ is an unknown constant}), \\ \dsty\int_{\partial\sOm}\biggl(-\dsty\frac{\partial u}{\partial n}\biggr)=M, \end{cases} \end{gather*}

where $u_{+}=\max(u,0)$, $M$ is a prescribed constant, and $\sOm$ is a bounded and smooth domain in $R^N$, $N\geq3$. It is known that for $M=M_{*}^{(N)}$, $\sOm=B_R(0)$, the above problem has a continuum of solutions. The case when $M>M_{*}^{(N)}$ is referred to as supercritical in the literature. We show that for $M$ near $KM_{*}^{(N)}$, $K>1$, there exist solutions with multiple condensations in $\sOm$. These concentration points are non-degenerate critical points of a function related to the Green's function.

AMS 2000 Mathematics subject classification: Primary 35B40; 35B45. Secondary 35J40