On non-local variational problems with lack of compactness related to non-linear optics

We give a simple proof of existence of solutions of the dispersion manage- ment and diffraction management equations for zero average dispersion, respectively diffraction. These solutions are found as maximizers of non-linear and non-local vari- ational problems which are invariant under a large non-compact group. Our proof of existence of maximizer is rather direct and avoids the use of Lions' concentration compactness argument or Ekeland's variational principle.Comment: 30 page

Solitary waves in nonlocal NLS with dispersion averaged saturated nonlinearities

A nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation (NLS) with dispersion averaged nonlinearity of saturated type is considered. Such a nonlocal NLS is of integro-differential type and it arises naturally in modeling fiber-optics communication systems with periodically varying dispersion profile (dispersion management). The associated constrained variational principle is shown to posses a ground state solution by constructing a convergent minimizing sequence through the application of a method similar to the classical concentration compactness principle of Lions. One of the obstacles in applying this variational approach is that a saturated nonlocal nonlinearity does not satisfy uniformly the so-called strict sub-additivity condition. This is overcome by applying a special version of Ekeland's variational principle.Comment: 24 page

Well-posedness of dispersion managed nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations

We prove local and global well-posedness results for the Gabitov-Turitsyn or dispersion managed nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with a large class of nonlinearities and arbitrary average dispersion on $L^2(\mathbb{R})$ and $H^1(\mathbb{R})$. Moreover, when the average dispersion is non-negative, we show that the set of nonlinear ground states is orbitally stable.Comment: 29 page

Existence of dispersion management solitons for general nonlinearities

We give a proof of existence of solitary solutions of the dispersion management equation for positive and zero average dispersion for a large class of nonlinearities. These solutions are found as minimizers of nonlinear and nonlocal variational problems which are invariant under a large non compact group. Our proof of existence of minimizers is rather direct and avoids the use of Lions\u27 concentration compactness argument. The existence of dispersion managed solitons is shown under very mild conditions on the dispersion profile and the nonlinear polarization of optical active medium, which cover all physically relevant cases for the dispersion profile and a large class of nonlinear polarizations

Discrete diffraction managed solitons: threshold phenomena and rapid decay for general nonlinearities

We prove a threshold phenomenon for the existence/non-existence of energy minimizing solitary solutions of the diffraction management equation for strictly positive and zero average diffraction. Our methods allow for a large class of nonlinearities, they are, for example, allowed to change sign, and the weakest possible condition, it only has to be locally integrable, on the local diffraction profile. The solutions are found as minimizers of a nonlinear and nonlocal variational problem which is translation invariant. There exists a critical threshold λcr such that minimizers for this variational problem exist if their power is bigger than λcr and no minimizers exist with power less than the critical threshold. We also give simple criteria for the finiteness and strict positivity of the critical threshold. Our proof of existence of minimizers is rather direct and avoids the use of Lions\u27 concentration compactness argument. Furthermore, we give precise quantitative lower bounds on the exponential decay rate of the diffraction management solitons, which confirm the physical heuristic prediction for the asymptotic decay rate. Moreover, for ground state solutions, these bounds give a quantitative lower bound for the divergence of the exponential decay rate in the limit of vanishing average diffraction. For zero average diffraction, we prove quantitative bounds which show that the solitons decay much faster than exponentially. Our results considerably extend and strengthen the results of [15] and [16]

Quantum systems at the brink: existence of bound states, critical potentials, and dimensionality

One of the crucial properties of a quantum system is the existence of bound states. While the existence of eigenvalues below zero, that is, below the essential spectrum, is well understood, the situation of zero energy bound states at the edge of the essential spectrum is far less understood. We present complementary sharp criteria for the existence and nonexistence of zero energy ground states. Our criteria give a straightforward explanation for the folklore that there is a spectral phase transition with critical dimension four, concerning the existence versus nonexistence of zero energy ground states

On some nonlinear and nonlocal effective equations in kinetic theory and nonlinear optics

This thesis deals with some nonlinear and nonlocal effective equations arising in kinetic theory and nonlinear optics. First, it is shown that the homogeneous non-cutoff Boltzmann equation for Maxwellian molecules enjoys strong smoothing properties: In the case of power-law type particle interactions, we prove the Gevrey smoothing conjecture. For Debye-Yukawa type interactions, an analogous smoothing effect is shown. In both cases, the smoothing is exactly what one would expect from an analogy to certain heat equations of the form $\partial_t u = f(-\Delta)u$, with a suitable function $f$, which grows at infinity, depending on the interaction potential. The results presented work in arbitrary dimensions, including also the one-dimensional Kac-Boltzmann equation. In the second part we study the entropy decay of certain solutions of the Kac master equation, a probabilistic model of a gas of interacting particles. It is shown that for initial conditions corresponding to $N$ particles in a thermal equilibrium and $M\leq N$ particles out of equilibrium, the entropy relative to the thermal state decays exponentially to a fraction of the initial relative entropy, with a rate that is essentially independent of the number of particles. Finally, we investigate the existence of dispersion management solitons. Using variational techniques, we prove that there is a threshold for the existence of minimisers of a nonlocal variational problem, even with saturating nonlinearities, related to the dispersion management equation