Uniqueness and nondegeneracy of ground states for Choquard equations in three dimensions (Q514250)

In this paper, the author proves the uniqueness and nondegeneracy of the ground-state solution of the problem \[ -\Delta u +\lambda u = \left(|x|^{-1}\ast |u|^p\right)|u|^{p-2}u\quad\text{ in }\mathbb{R}^3, \qquad(\ast) \] for \(\lambda>0\) and \(p>2\) sufficiently close to \(2\). The existence of ground states has been proved by \textit{P. L. Lions} [Ann. Inst. H. Poincaré Anal. Nonlinéaire 1(2), 109--145 (1984; Zbl 0541.49009)] in the case \(p=2\) and by \textit{V. Moroz} and \textit{J. Van Schaftingen} [J. Funct. Anal. 265, No. 2, 153--184 (2013; Zbl 1285.35048)] for general \(p\in\left(\frac53 ,\frac73 \right)\). Uniqueness of the ground state had previously been obtained in the case \(p=2\) by \textit{E. H. Lieb} [Stud. Appl. Math. 57, 93--105 (1977; Zbl 0369.35022)]. Nondegeneracy results for \(p=2\) are contained in works of \textit{P. Tod} and \textit{I. M. Moroz} [Nonlinearity 12, No. 2, 201--216 (1999; Zbl 0942.35077)], \textit{E. Lenzmann} [Anal. PDE 2, No. 1, 1--27 (2009; Zbl 1183.35266)], and \textit{J. Wei} and \textit{M. Winter} [J. Math. Phys. 50, No. 1, 012905, 22 p. (2009; Zbl 1189.81061)]. The author of the present paper uses a perturbation argument, showing first that radial ground states of (\(\ast\)) converge as \(p\downarrow 2\) to a ground state of the problem with \(p=2\). By an implicit function method, the uniqueness of the ground state for all \(p>2\) sufficiently close to \(2\) is then derived ``locally'', i.e., in a neighborhood of the ground state for \(p=2\) in the \(L^2\cap L^6\) norm. The uniqueness result is obtained by combining both arguments. To prove the nondegeneracy, the author follows the method used by Lenzmann [loc. cit.] in the case \(p=2\). Using that the ground state for \(p=2\) is nondegenerate, a perturbation argument is applied to the Riesz projection operator. In an appendix, the author provides a short proof for the existence of ground states for (\(\ast\)).