On the meaning of the Vakhitov-Kolokolov stability criterion for the nonlinear Dirac equation

Publication date 9 July 2011

Stability in context of PDEs (35B35) Soliton solutions (35C08) Spectral theory and eigenvalue problems for partial differential equations (35P99) Time-dependent Schrödinger equations and Dirac equations (35Q41) Soliton theory, asymptotic behavior of solutions of infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian systems (37K40) Stability problems for infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian and Lagrangian systems (37K45) Closed and approximate solutions to the Schrödinger, Dirac, Klein-Gordon and other equations of quantum mechanics (81Q05)

Abstract: We consider the spectral stability of solitary wave solutions phi(x)e^{-iomega t} to the nonlinear Dirac equation in any dimension. This equation is well-known to theoretical physicists as the Soler model (or, in one dimension, the Gross-Neveu model), and attracted much attention for many years. We show that, generically, at the values of where the Vakhitov-Kolokolov stability criterion breaks down, a pair of real eigenvalues (one positive, one negative) appears from the origin, leading to the linear instability of corresponding solitary waves. As an auxiliary result, we state the virial identities ("Pohozhaev theorem") for the nonlinear Dirac equation. We also show that pm 2omega i are the eigenvalues of the nonlinear Dirac equation linearized at phi(x)e^{-iomega t}, which are embedded into the continuous spectrum for |omega| > m/3. This result holds for the nonlinear Dirac equation with any nonlinearity of the Soler form ("scalar-scalar interaction") and in any dimension.

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