Long range scattering and modified wave operators for the Maxwell-Schrödinger system. II: The general case (Q2458402)

The authors study the Maxwell-Schrödinger system in space dimension 3 in the Coulomb gauge. This system describes the evolution of a charged nonrelativistic quantum mechanical particle interacting with the classical electromagnetic field it generates. This system may be written in the following form \[ \begin{cases} i\partial_t u = -{1\over 2}(\nabla -iA)^2 u + A_e u,\\ (\partial_t^2-\Delta)A_e - \partial_t (\partial_t A_e + \nabla \cdot A) = | u| ^2,\\ (\partial_t^2-\Delta)A_e + \nabla(\partial_t A_e + \nabla \cdot A) = \text{Im} \overline{u}(\nabla - iA)u ,\end{cases} \] where \((A,A_e)\) is an \({\mathbb R}^{3+1}\) valued function defined in the space time \({\mathbb R}^{3+1}\). The existence of modified wave operators for that system with no size restriction on the Schrödinger and Maxwell asymptotic data is proved. The asymptotic behavior in time of solutions in the range of the wave operators is determined. The method consists in partially solving the Maxwell equation for the potentials, substituting the result into the Schrödinger equation, which becomes both nonlinear and nonlocal in time. The Schrödinger function is then parametrized in terms of an amplitude and a phase satisfying a suitable auxiliary system, and the Cauchy problem for that system, with prescribed asymptotic behavior determined by the asymptotic data, is solved by an energy method, thereby leading to solutions of the original system with prescribed asymptotic behavior in time. This paper is the generalization of Part I [the authors, Commun. Math. Phys. 236, No. 3, 395--448 (2003; Zbl 1038.35048)]. However it is entirely self-contained and can be read without any previous knowledge of the latter.