  We establish new existence and non-existence results for positive solutions
of the Einstein-scalar field Lichnerowicz equation on compact manifolds. This
equation arises from the Hamiltonian constraint equation for the
Einstein-scalar field system in general relativity. Our analysis introduces
variational techniques, in the form of the mountain pass lemma, to the analysis
of the Hamiltonian constraint equation, which has been previously studied by
other methods.
