Regularity of the scattering matrix for nonlinear Helmholtz eigenfunctions (Q6062688)

Summary: We study the nonlinear Helmholtz equation \((\Delta - \lambda^2)u = \pm |u|^{p-1}u\) on \(\mathbb{R}^n, \lambda >0, p \in \mathbb{N}\) odd, and more generally \((\Delta_g + V - \lambda^2)u = N[u]\), where \(\Delta_g\) is the (positive) Laplace-Beltrami operator on an asymptotically Euclidean or conic manifold, \(V\) is a short range potential, and \(N[u]\) is a more general polynomial nonlinearity. Under the conditions \((p-1)(n-1)/2 > 2\) and \(k > (n-1)/2\), for every \(f \in H^k (\mathbb{S}^{n-1}_{\omega})\) of sufficiently small norm, we show there is a nonlinear Helmholtz eigenfunction taking the form \[ u(r, \omega) = r^{-(n-1)/2} (e^{-i\lambda r} f(\omega) + e^{+i\lambda r} b(\omega) + O(r^{-\varepsilon})), \quad \text{as } r \to \infty, \] for some \(b \in H^k (\mathbb{S}_{\omega}^{n-1})\) and \(\varepsilon > 0\). That is, the nonlinear scattering matrix \(f \mapsto b\) preserves Sobolev regularity, which is an improvement over the authors' previous work with \textit{J. Zhang} [SIAM J. Math. Anal. 52, No. 6, 6180--6221 (2020; Zbl 1455.35163)], that proved a similar result with a loss of four derivatives.