Resonances, Radiation Damping and Instability in Hamiltonian Nonlinear Wave Equations

We consider a class of nonlinear Klein-Gordon equations which are Hamiltonian and are perturbations of linear dispersive equations. The unperturbed dynamical system has a bound state, a spatially localized and time periodic solution. We show that, for generic nonlinear Hamiltonian perturbations, all small amplitude solutions decay to zero as time tends to infinity at an anomalously slow rate. In particular, spatially localized and time-periodic solutions of the linear problem are destroyed by generic nonlinear Hamiltonian perturbations via slow radiation of energy to infinity. These solutions can therefore be thought of as metastable states. The main mechanism is a nonlinear resonant interaction of bound states (eigenfunctions) and radiation (continuous spectral modes), leading to energy transfer from the discrete to continuum modes. This is in contrast to the KAM theory in which appropriate nonresonance conditions imply the persistence of invariant tori. A hypothesis ensuring that such a resonance takes place is a nonlinear analogue of the Fermi golden rule, arising in the theory of resonances in quantum mechanics. The techniques used involve: (i) a time-dependent method developed by the authors for the treatment of the quantum resonance problem and perturbations of embedded eigenvalues, (ii) a generalization of the Hamiltonian normal form appropriate for infinite dimensional dispersive systems and (iii) ideas from scattering theory. The arguments are quite general and we expect them to apply to a large class of systems which can be viewed as the interaction of finite dimensional and infinite dimensional dispersive dynamical systems, or as a system of particles coupled to a field.Comment: To appear in Inventiones Mathematica

Time Dependent Resonance Theory

An important class of resonance problems involves the study of perturbations of systems having embedded eigenvalues in their continuous spectrum. Problems with this mathematical structure arise in the study of many physical systems, e.g. the coupling of an atom or molecule to a photon-radiation field, and Auger states of the helium atom, as well as in spectral geometry and number theory. We present a dynamic (time-dependent) theory of such quantum resonances. The key hypotheses are (i) a resonance condition which holds generically (non-vanishing of the {\it Fermi golden rule}) and (ii) local decay estimates for the unperturbed dynamics with initial data consisting of continuum modes associated with an interval containing the embedded eigenvalue of the unperturbed Hamiltonian. No assumption of dilation analyticity of the potential is made. Our method explicitly demonstrates the flow of energy from the resonant discrete mode to continuum modes due to their coupling. The approach is also applicable to nonautonomous linear problems and to nonlinear problems. We derive the time behavior of the resonant states for intermediate and long times. Examples and applications are presented. Among them is a proof of the instability of an embedded eigenvalue at a threshold energy under suitable hypotheses.Comment: to appear in Geometrical and Functional Analysi

Nonautonomous Hamiltonians

We present a theory of resonances for a class of non-autonomous Hamiltonians to treat the structural instability of spatially localized and time-periodic solutions associated with an unperturbed autonomous Hamiltonian. The mechanism of instability is radiative decay, due to resonant coupling of the discrete modes to the continuum modes by the time-dependent perturbation. This results in a slow transfer of energy from the discrete modes to the continuum. The rate of decay of solutions is slow and hence the decaying bound states can be viewed as metastable. The ideas are closely related to the authors' work on (i) a time dependent approach to the instability of eigenvalues embedded in the continuous spectra, and (ii) resonances, radiation damping and instability in Hamiltonian nonlinear wave equations. The theory is applied to a general class of Schr\"odinger equations. The phenomenon of ionization may be viewed as a resonance problem of the type we consider and we apply our theory to find the rate of ionization, spectral line shift and local decay estimates for such Hamiltonians.Comment: To appear in Journal of Statistical Physic

Symplectic Microgeometry II: Generating functions

We adapt the notion of generating functions for lagrangian submanifolds to symplectic microgeometry. We show that a symplectic micromorphism always admits a global generating function. As an application, we describe hamiltonian flows as special symplectic micromorphisms whose local generating functions are the solutions of Hamilton-Jacobi equations. We obtain a purely categorical formulation of the temporal evolution in classical mechanics.Comment: 27 pages, 1 figur

Defect Modes and Homogenization of Periodic Schr\"odinger Operators

We consider the discrete eigenvalues of the operator H_\eps=-\Delta+V(\x)+\eps^2Q(\eps\x), where V(\x) is periodic and Q(\y) is localized on $\R^d,\ \ d\ge1$. For \eps>0 and sufficiently small, discrete eigenvalues may bifurcate (emerge) from spectral band edges of the periodic Schr\"odinger operator, H_0 = -\Delta_\x+V(\x), into spectral gaps. The nature of the bifurcation depends on the homogenized Schr\"odinger operator L_{A,Q}=-\nabla_\y\cdot A \nabla_\y +\ Q(\y). Here, $A$ denotes the inverse effective mass matrix, associated with the spectral band edge, which is the site of the bifurcation.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, to appear SIAM J. Math. Ana

Coisotropic submanifolds in Poisson geometry and branes in the Poisson sigma model

General boundary conditions ("branes") for the Poisson sigma model are studied. They turn out to be labeled by coisotropic submanifolds of the given Poisson manifold. The role played by these boundary conditions both at the classical and at the perturbative quantum level is discussed. It turns out to be related at the classical level to the category of Poisson manifolds with dual pairs as morphisms and at the perturbative quantum level to the category of associative algebras (deforming algebras of functions on Poisson manifolds) with bimodules as morphisms. Possibly singular Poisson manifolds arising from reduction enter naturally into the picture and, in particular, the construction yields (under certain assumptions) their deformation quantization.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures; minor corrections, references updated; final versio

A Counterexample to the Quantizability of Modules

Let a Poisson structure on a manifold M be given. If it vanishes at a point m, the evaluation at m defines a one dimensional representation of the Poisson algebra of functions on M. We show that this representation can, in general, not be quantized. Precisely, we give a counterexample for M=R^n, such that: (i) The evaluation map at 0 can not be quantized to a representation of the algebra of functions with product the Kontsevich product associated to the Poisson structure. (ii) For any formal Poisson structure extending the given one and vanishing at zero up to second order in epsilon, (i) still holds. We do not know whether the second claim remains true if one allows the higher order terms in epsilon to attain nonzero values at zero

Integration of twisted Dirac brackets

The correspondence between Poisson structures and symplectic groupoids, analogous to the one of Lie algebras and Lie groups, plays an important role in Poisson geometry; it offers, in particular, a unifying framework for the study of hamiltonian and Poisson actions. In this paper, we extend this correspondence to the context of Dirac structures twisted by a closed 3-form. More generally, given a Lie groupoid $G$ over a manifold $M$, we show that multiplicative 2-forms on $G$ relatively closed with respect to a closed 3-form $\phi$ on $M$ correspond to maps from the Lie algebroid of $G$ into the cotangent bundle $T^*M$ of $M$, satisfying an algebraic condition and a differential condition with respect to the $\phi$-twisted Courant bracket. This correspondence describes, as a special case, the global objects associated to twisted Dirac structures. As applications, we relate our results to equivariant cohomology and foliation theory, and we give a new description of quasi-hamiltonian spaces and group-valued momentum maps.Comment: 42 pages. Minor changes, typos corrected. Revised version to appear in Duke Math.

Excitation Thresholds for Nonlinear Localized Modes on Lattices

Breathers are spatially localized and time periodic solutions of extended Hamiltonian dynamical systems. In this paper we study excitation thresholds for (nonlinearly dynamically stable) ground state breather or standing wave solutions for networks of coupled nonlinear oscillators and wave equations of nonlinear Schr\"odinger (NLS) type. Excitation thresholds are rigorously characterized by variational methods. The excitation threshold is related to the optimal (best) constant in a class of discr ete interpolation inequalities related to the Hamiltonian energy. We establish a precise connection among $d$, the dimensionality of the lattice, $2\sigma+1$, the degree of the nonlinearity and the existence of an excitation threshold for discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger systems (DNLS). We prove that if $\sigma\ge 2/d$, then ground state standing waves exist if and only if the total power is larger than some strictly positive threshold, $\nu_{thresh}(\sigma, d)$. This proves a conjecture of Flach, Kaldko& MacKay in the context of DNLS. We also discuss upper and lower bounds for excitation thresholds for ground states of coupled systems of NLS equations, which arise in the modeling of pulse propagation in coupled arrays of optical fibers.Comment: To appear in Nonlinearit