Criterion for Lyapunov stability of periodic Camassa-Holm equations (Q6098118)

For a given real function \(m\), the paper studies the stability of the spectral problem \[ \ddot{y} = \frac{1}{4}y + \lambda m(t)y \] which is obtained from the Lax pair of the Camassa-Holm equation. Here, stability means \(\sup_{t \in \mathbb{R}} (|y(t)| + |\dot{y}(t)|) < \infty\) for solutions \(y\). As auxiliary problems the spectral problem is equipped once with periodic (\(y(0) = y(\pi), \; \dot{y}(0) = \dot{y}(\pi)\)) and once with antiperiodic (\(y(0) = -y(\pi), \; \dot{y}(0) = -\dot{y}(\pi)\)) boundary conditions. If \(m < 0\) then the associated periodic eigenvalues \(\lambda_n\) and antiperiodic eigenvalues \(\lambda_n^*\) form two sequences accumulating only at \(\infty\) which are ordered by \(0 < \lambda_0 < \lambda_1^* \leq \lambda_2^* < \lambda_1 \leq \lambda_2 < \lambda_3^* \dots\). In the first step stability is shown for all \(\lambda\) belonging to the open intervals \((\lambda_0, \lambda_1^*), \, (\lambda_2^*, \lambda_1), \, (\lambda_2, \lambda_3^*), \dots\) and non-stability for all \(\lambda\) in \((-\infty, \lambda_0]\) and in the open intervals in the gaps in between and for all non-real \(\lambda\). The endpoint of such an interval leads to stability if and only if there is no gap. If \(m > 0\) then a similar result is obtained with sequences of eigenvalues accumulating at \(-\infty\). In the next step an indefinite function \(m \in C(\mathbb{R})\) is considered changing its sign. In this case similar stability results are obtained where the periodic and the antiperiodic eigenvalues both form two sequences, one accumulating at \(\infty\) and one accumulating at \(-\infty\). Finally, a Lyapunov type stability condition is proved using the \(L^{\alpha}\)-norm of \(m\) (\(1 \leq \alpha \leq \infty\)) depending on the sign of \(\int_0^{\pi}m(t) \, dt \, (\neq 0)\).