Nonlinear wave equations: Constraints on periods and exponential bounds for periodic solutions (Q1363174)

The authors discuss properties of the nonlinear wave equation \(\partial^2_t\varphi= \Delta\varphi+ f(\varphi)\), where \(f\in C^3(\mathbb{R},\mathbb{R})\) satisfies \(f(0)= 0\), while \(t\in (-\infty,+\infty)\) and \(x\in\mathbb{R}^N\). Solutions \(\varphi(x, t)\) are supposed to be periodic in \(t\), and for fixed \(t\) in \(L^2(\mathbb{R}^N)\) with respect to \(x\). A function space \(D_\omega\) is introduced as follows. \(S^1_\omega\) is the circle of radius \(\omega^{-1}\). \(D_\omega\) is then the set of \(\varphi\in H^1(\mathbb{R}^N\times S^1_\omega)\) such that if \(\psi\) is any of \(\varphi\), \(\partial_t\varphi\), \(x\cdot\nabla\varphi\) then \(|\psi|_X< \infty\), where \(X= L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^N\times S^1_\omega)\), and in addition \(\lim|\psi(x, t)|= 0\) as \(|x|\to\infty\), uniformly in \(t\). Two of the main results are as follows. If \(\varphi\in D_\omega\) is a nontrivial \(2\pi\omega^{-1}\)-periodic solution then \(\omega^2\leq f'(0)\). In order to state the second result, let \(\lfloor a\rfloor\) be the largest integer \(\leq a\). The assertion then is: If \(f'(0)\neq m^2\omega^2\), \(m\in\mathbb{Z}\) and \(\varphi\in D_\omega\) a \(2\pi\omega^{-1}\)-periodic solution then \(e^{\alpha|x|}\varphi\in L^2(S^1_\omega, H^1(\mathbb{R}^N))\) for all \(\alpha\) such that \(\alpha^2< f'(0)- \lfloor(f'(0)\omega^{- 2})^{1/2}\rfloor^2 \omega^2\). Here \(L^2(S^1_\omega, H^1(\mathbb{R}^N))\) is the space of mappings \(\psi: S^1_\omega\to H^1(\mathbb{R}^N)\) such that \(|\psi|^2_X+ |\nabla\psi|^2_X< \infty\), with \(X\) as above. Further, a corollary on equilibrium solutions is obtained: One assumes now that \(\varphi\in H^1(\mathbb{R}^N)\) is a solution of \(\Delta\varphi= f(\varphi)\) such that \(\varphi\) and \(x\cdot\nabla\varphi\) are in \(L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^N)\) and vanish as \(|x|\to\infty\). Under these assumptions, the assertion then is: If \(f'(0)< 0\) then \(\varphi= 0\), if \(f'(0)>0\) then \(e^{\alpha|x|}\in H^1(\mathbb{R}^N)\) for all \(\alpha\in\mathbb{R}\) such that \(\alpha^2< f'(0)\). It is not possible to go into the technical side of the proofs, which are very subtle. A first step amounts to introduce, for \(\varphi\in D_\omega\), the Schrödinger operator \(S_\varphi= \Delta+\varphi^{- 1}f(\varphi)\). This paves the way for the application of spectral theory as used in the area of Schrödinger equations.