We deal with the problem ⎧ -Δu = f(x,u) + λg(x,u), in Ω, ⎨ ($P_{\lambda }$) ⎩ $u_{\mid \partial \Omega }=0$ where Ω ⊂ ℝⁿ is a bounded domain, λ ∈ ℝ, and f,g: Ω×ℝ → ℝ are two Carathéodory functions with f(x,0) = g(x,0) = 0. Under suitable assumptions, we prove that there exists λ* > 0 such that, for each λ ∈ (0,λ*), problem ($P_{\lambda }$) admits a non-zero, non-negative strong solution $u_{\lambda }\in {\bigcap }_{p\ge 2}{W}^{2,p}\left(\Omega \right)$ such that $li{m}_{\lambda \to 0⁺}\left|\right|u_{\lambda }{\left|\right|}_{W^{2,p}\left(\Omega \right)}=0$ for all p ≥ 2. Moreover, the function $\lambda \mapsto I_{\lambda }\left(u_{\lambda }\right)$ is negative and decreasing in ]0,λ*[, where $I_{\lambda }$ is the energy functional related to ($P_{\lambda }$).

The paper is concerned with an extension of the classical relation between the flame speed and the curvature-flow stretch, valid only for high Lewis numbers (diffusively stable flames). At low Lewis numbers the corresponding flame-flow system suffers short-wavelength instability, making the associated initial value problem ill-posed. In this study the difficulty is resolved by incorporation of higher-order effects. As a result one ends up with a reduced model based on a coupled system of second-order...