Schr\"{o}dinger-type equations with sign-changing nonlinearities: a survey

We are looking for solutions to nonlinear Schr\"odinger-type equations of the form $$(-\Delta)^{\alpha / 2} u (x) + V(x) u(x) = h (x,u(x)), \quad x \in \mathbb{R}^N,$$ where $V : \mathbb{R}^N \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ is an external potential (bounded, unbounded or singular) and the nonlinearity $h : \mathbb{R}^N \times \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ may be sign-changing. The aim of this paper is to give an introduction to the problem and the variational approach based on the Nehari manifold technique, and to survey recent results concerning the existence of ground and bound states.