In this thesis, we shall give a concise account for the classification of the structure of positive radial solutions of the semilinear elliptic equation$$Delta u+K(|x|)u^{p}=0 .$$ It is known that a radial solution $u$ is crossing if $u$ has a zero in $(0, infty)$; $u$ is slowly decaying if $u$ is positive but $displaystylelim_{r ightarrow{infty}}r^{n-2}u=infty$; u is rapidly decaying if $u$ is positive, $displaystylelim_{r ightarrow{infty}}r^{n-2}u$ exists and is positive. Using some Pohozaev identities, we show that under certain condition on $K$, by comparing some parameters $r_{G}$ and $r_{H}$, the structure of positive radial solutions for various initial conditions can be classified as Type Z ($u(r; alpha)$ is crossing for all $r>0$ ), Type S ($u(r; alpha)$ is slowly decaying for all $r>0$), and Type M (there is some $alpha_{f}$ such that $u(r; alpha)$ is crossing for $alphain(alpha_{f}, infty)$, $u(r; alpha)$ is slowly decaying for $alpha=alpha_{f}$, and $u(r; alpha)$ is rapidly decaying for $alphain(0, alpha_{f})$). The above work is due to Yanagida and Yotsutani.

The elliptic equation $Delta u+K(|x|)|u|^{p-1}u=0,xin mathbf{R}^{n}$ is studied, where $p>1$, $n>2$, $K(r)$ is smooth and positive on $(0,infty)$, and $rK(r)in L^{1}(0,1)$. It is known that the radial solution either oscillates infinitely, or $lim_{r ightarrow infty}r^{n-2}u(r;al) in Rsetminus {0}$ (rapidly decaying), or $lim_{r ightarrow infty}r^{n-2}u(r;al) = infty (or -infty)$ (slowly decaying). Let $u=u(r;al)$ is a solution satisfying $u(0)=al$. In this thesis, we classify all the radial solutions into three types: Type R($i$): $u$ has exactly $i$ zeros on $(0,infty)$, and is rapidly decaying at $r=infty$. Type S($i$): $u$ has exactly $i$ zeros on $(0,infty)$, and is slowly decaying at $r=infty$. Type O: $u$ has infinitely many zeros on $(0,infty)$. If $rK_{r}(r)/K(r)$ satisfies some conditions, then the structure of radial solutions is determined completely. In particular, there exists $0<al_{0}<al_{1}<al_{2}<cdots<infty$ such that $u(r;al_{i})$ is of Type R($i$), and $u(r;al)$ is of Type S($i$) for all $al in (al_{i-1},al_{i})$, where $al_{-1}:=0$. These works are due to Yanagida and Yotsutani. Their main tools are Kelvin transformation, Pr"{u}fer transformation, and a Pohozaev identity. Here we give a concise account. Also, I impose a concept so called $r-mu graph$, and give two proofs of the Pohozaev identity.