Existence and stability of near-constant solutions of variable-coefficient scalar field equations

Abstract

This article studies a class of semilinear scalar field equations on the real line with variable coefficients in the linear terms. These coefficients are not necessarily small perturbations of a constant. We prove that under suitable conditions, the non-translation-invariant linear operator leads to steady states that are ``almost constant'' in the spatial variable. The main challenge of the proof is due to a spectral obstruction that cannot be treated perturbatively. Next, we consider stability of constant and near-constant steady states. We establish asymptotic stability for the vacuum state with respect to perturbations in $H^1\times L^2$, without placing any parity assumptions on the coefficients, potential, or initial data. Finally, under a parity assumption, we show asymptotic stability for near-constant steady states.