Small amplitude solitary waves in the Dirac-Maxwell system

Abstract

We study nonlinear bound states, or solitary waves, in the Dirac-Maxwell system proving the existence of solutions in which the Dirac wave function is of the form $\phi(x,\omega)e^{-i\omega t}$, $\omega\in(-m,\omega_*)$, with some $\omega_*>-m$, such that $\phi_\omega\in H^1(\mathbb{R}^3,\mathbb{C}^4)$, $\Vert\phi_\omega\Vert^2_{L^2}=O(m-|\omega|)$, and $\Vert\phi_\omega\Vert_{L^\infty}=O(m-|\omega|)$. The method of proof is an implicit function theorem argument based on an identification of the nonrelativistic limit as the ground state of the Choquard equation.