On the spectral problem associated with the time-periodic nonlinear Schrödinger equation (Q785341)

Consider the following operators, acting on (complex \(1\times 2\)) matrix-valued functions of a real-variable, \[ \mathbf D= \left(\begin{array}{cc} \partial_t&0\\ 0&\partial_t \end{array}\right)\,,\quad V(\lambda,\psi)=\left(\begin{array}{cc} -i\psi^1\psi^2&2\lambda\psi^1+i\psi^2\\2\lambda\psi^2-i\psi^4&i\psi^1\psi^2 \end{array}\right)\\ \text{ and}\quad R=\left(\begin{array}{cc} -2i\lambda^2&0\\ 0&2i\lambda^2\end{array}\right) \] where \(\lambda\in\mathbb C\) is a complex number (generalized eigenvalue) and \(\psi=(\psi_j)_{j=1}^4\) is a function of a real-variable valued in \(\mathbb C^4\). The authors study the equation \[ \mathbf D\phi=R\phi+V(\lambda,\psi)\phi\qquad(*) \] with initial condition \(\phi(0)=\phi_0\). The motivation comes from the Lax pair formulation of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) \[iu_t+u_{xx}-2\sigma|u|^2u=0 \quad(\sigma=\pm1)\,. \] Actually, \((*)\) is the \(t\)-part of the Lax pair, which is less studied compared to the \(x\)-part. A crucial difference between \((*)\) and the \(x\)-part can be studied by spectral theoritic tools using the Zakharov-Shabat operator. Such a formulation being missing for \((*)\), the authors develop notions of generalized spectra for the operator in \((*)\), study the asymptotic behavior of the generalized eigenvalue in the large limit \(|\lambda|\to+\infty\), and as a matter of application, they formulate the Hamilton-Jacobi structure of the NLS equation.