Weak continuity of the flow map for the Benjamin-Ono equation on the line (Q620421)

The authors establish weak continuity of the flow map \(S(t) : L^{2}(\mathbb R) \to L^{2}(\mathbb R)\) for the Benjamin--Ono equation \[ u_{t} +{\mathcal H} u_{xx} + u u_{x} = 0, \qquad u|_{t=0} = \varphi, \tag{\(*\)} \] on the line; here \({\mathcal H}\) denotes the Hilbert transform \({\mathcal F}^{-1} (-i\operatorname{sgn}(\xi) {\mathcal F})\), and \(S(t)\) is the map taking initial data \(\varphi\) to the unique solution \(S(t)\varphi = u(t)\) at time \(t\). The main theorem is the following: For any \(T > 0\), any \(v \in L^2(\mathbb R)\) and any sequence \(\{\varphi_{n}\}_n\) converging weakly to \(\varphi\) in \(L^2(\mathbb R)\) one has \[ \sup_{{|t| \leq T}}\big|\langle S(t) \varphi_n- S(t) \varphi, v \rangle_{L^2(\mathbb R)}\big| \to 0 \quad\text{as }n \to \infty. \] The proof relies on compactness and uniqueness arguments, using some techniques similar to those in the work of \textit{O. Goubet} and \textit{L. Molinet} [``Global attractor for weakly damped nonlinear Schrödinger equations in \(L^{2}(\mathbb R)\),'' Nonlinear Anal., Theory Methods Appl. 71, No.~1-2, A, 317--320 (2009; Zbl 1170.35534)], as well as elements from the well-posedness theory by \textit{A. D. Ionescu} and \textit{C. E. Kenig} [``Global well-posedness of the Benjamin-Ono equation in low-regularity spaces'', J. Am. Math. Soc. 20, No. 3, 753--798 (2007; Zbl 1123.35055)]. The paper also contains a proof of the weak continuity of the flow map for the modified Benjamin-Ono equation in \(H^{1/2}(\mathbb R)\). Reviewer's remark: A related investigation is that of \textit{L. Molinet} [``Sharp ill-posedness result for the periodic Benjamin-Ono equation,'' J. Funct. Anal. 257, 3488--3516 (2009; Zbl 1181.35246)], where he showed that for the corresponding periodic problem the flow map is not weakly continuous. The case \(L^2(\mathbb R)\) is interesting since it is believed to be a critical space for the Benjamin-Ono equation: the problem \((*)\) is known to be globally well-posed in \(L^2(\mathbb R)\) but there is, as of yet, no local well-posedness theory for Sobolev spaces of lower indices. The weak continuity of the flow map has also been used in investigations concerning the stability of solitons for this and other related wave equations, see e.g. [\textit{C. E. Kenig} and \textit{Y. Martel}, ``Asympotic stability of solitons for the Benjamin-Ono equation'', Rev. Mat. Iberoam 25, 909--970 (2009; Zbl 1247.35133); \textit{Y. Martel} and \textit{F. Merle}, ``Asymptotic stability of solitons for subcritical generalized KdV equations'', Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 157, 219--254 (2001; Zbl 0981.35073)].