Polynomial upper bounds for the instability of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation below the energy norm (Q1409257)

The authors study the nonlinear Schrödinger equation \[ iu_t+\Delta u= F(u)= \pm| u|^{p-1} u,\quad u(x,0)= u_0(x),\tag{1} \] \(u(x,t)\) is complex valued on \(\mathbb R^n\times \mathbb R_+\), \(u_0\in H^s(\mathbb R^n)\) for some \(s\in \mathbb R\) and \(p> 1\). The \(+\)-sign in (1) is referred to as the defocussing case, the \(-\)-sign is referred to as the focussing case. There is an extensive literature on the local and global existence of solutions to (1) for \(s\geq 1\). The authors study the existence for \(s\in (1-\varepsilon, 1)\), \(\varepsilon> 0\) small. They introduce the number \(s_c\): \[ s_c(n, p)= \textstyle{{1\over 2}} n-2(p- 1)^{-1}\tag{2} \] called critical regularity. They prove two theorems. The first, Theorem 1.1, is related to global existence. It states the following: Let \(s_c(n, p)< 1\). Then there is \(\varepsilon(n, p)\) as follows: if \(1> s> 1-\varepsilon(n, p)> s_c\) then the solution \(u(x,t)\) to (1) exists globally and exhibits polynomial growth: \[ \| u(T)\|_{H^s}\leq C_0(1+ T)^{C_1},\quad C_j= C_j(n, p,s,\| u_0\|_{H^s}),\quad T\in\mathbb R.\tag{3} \] The second result has to do with stability. It is based on the fact that (1) admits a standing wave solution \(u= e^{i\theta t}Q\) with \(Q\) satisfying \[ \Delta Q- Q= F(Q)\quad\text{on }\mathbb R^n.\tag{4} \] One introduces the cylinder \[ \Sigma= \{e^{i\theta} Q(\cdot- x_0); x_0\in\mathbb R^n,\;\theta\in [0,2\pi]\}\tag{5} \] which is invariant under the flow of (1) and gives rise to the distance \(d(u,\Sigma)\) defined in terms of \(\|\;\|_{H^s}\) in the obvious way. Theorem 1.2 then states the following. Let \(s_c(n, p)< 0\). There are \(\varepsilon\), \(C_1\), \(C_2\), \(\delta> 0\) depending on \(s\), \(n\), \(p\) as follows: if \(d(u_0,\Sigma)\leq\sigma\) and \(1-\varepsilon\leq s< 1\) then the solution \(u\) to (1) exists on the interval \(I= [0,\sigma^{-C_2}]\) and satisfies \(\| u(t)\|_{H^s}\leq C_1 d(u_0,\Sigma)\) on \(I\). The proofs use among others Strichartz-spaces and make heavy use of earlier results of the authors.