Uniqueness and related analytic properties for the Benjamin-Ono equation -- A nonlinear Neumann problem in the plane (Q1181079)

The authors study the Benjamin-Ono equation \[ u^ 2(x)-u(x)={\mathcal F}(u)(x),\quad x\in\mathbb{R},\quad where \quad {\mathcal F}(\xi)(x)={1\over 2\pi}\int| k| e^{-ikx}\int\xi(z)e^{ikz}dx dk. \] The main result is that \(u(x)=2/(1+x^ 2)\), \(x\in\mathbb{R}\), is the only solution which converges to zero as \(| x|\to\infty\). This result is obtained by using the equivalence of (1) to a certain nonlinear Neumann problem on the upper half-plane, and by a systematic study of this Neumann problem. The main tools used are the Cauchy-Riemann equations and the maximum principle.