The defocusing NLS equation and its normal form (Q2438084)

To quote from the authors' Preface and Overview: ``This monograph is concerned with the theory of integrable partial differential equations (PDEs). It offers a concise case study of the normal form theory of such equations for the defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation on the circle (dNLS), \[ i\partial_t=- \partial^2_x u+2|u|^2 u,\quad u(x+ 1,t)= u(x,t),\;x,t\in\mathbb{R}, \] one of the most important nonlinear integrable PDEs, both in view of its applications, in particular to nonlinear optics, and of the fact that this equation comes up as an important model equation in more than one space dimension as well.'' ``To be more specific, our starting point is the dNLS considered as an infinite-dimensional integrable system admitting a complete set of independent integrals in involution. We show that the dNLS admits a single, global, real-analytic system of coordinates -- the Cartesian version of action-angle coordinates, also referred to as Birkhoff coordinates, -- such that the dNLS Hamiltonian becomes a function of the actions alone.'' ``Similar results were obtained for the Korteweg-de Vries equation (KdV). The existence of global Birkhoff coordinates is a special feature of dNLS and KdV. However, for many integrable PDEs, local Birkhoff coordinates may be constructed in parts of phase space satisfying appropriate conditions by developing our approach further.'' ``This book is intended not only for the handful of specialists working at the intersection of integrable PDEs and Hamiltonian perturbation theory, but also for researchers farther way from these fields. In fact, with the aim of reaching out to postgraduate students as well, we have made the book self-contained. In particular, we present a detailed study of the spectral theory of self-adjoint Zakharov-Shabat (ZS) operators on an interval which appear in the Lax pair formulation of dNLS, filling in this way a long standing gap in the literature.'' The book consists of 166 pages and begins with a short Overview of the main ideas and results, followed by four main chapters. The Overview covers the Hamiltonian formalism of the NLS, the Poisson bracket, the Lax pair formalism for the NLS in terms of the ZS operator, the potential and spectra, and normal form. The main theorem, the derivation of which is the principal aim of the book, is then stated. The Overview also contains some historical comments. The first chapter is concerned with ZS operators and the second is concerned with various spectra of these operators. Chapter 3 covers Liouville coordinates and the final chapter studies Birkhoff coordinates. There are six self-contained appendices, which are also of independent interest, which cover analytic maps, Hamiltonian formalism, infinite products, Fourier coefficients, multiplicities of eigenvalues and miscellaneous lemmas.