An alternative variational approach to constrained critical points for nonlinear Schrödinger equations with combined nonlinearities

We introduce a new variational framework for the study of standing waves for nonlinear Schrödinger equations with combined power nonlinearities. The approach is based on minimizing the mass functional over a set defined by an upper bound on the energy and a lower bound on a nonlinear potential term, rather than minimizing the energy at prescribed mass. This yields a new characterization of the sharp Gagliardo–Nirenberg optimizer through purely variational constraints. As a consequence, we establish the existence of minimizers for all energy levels below a critical threshold and derive the corresponding Euler–Lagrange equations. These minimizers give rise to standing-wave solutions of the nonlinear Schröedinger equation