Decay estimates for beam equations with potentials in dimension two

Abstract

This paper establishes time decay estimates for the following two-dimensional beam (plate) equation with a decaying real-valued potential $V$: \begin{equation*} \partial_t^2 u + (Δ^2 + V) u = 0, \qquad u(0,x)=f(x),\quad \partial_t u(0,x)=g(x). \end{equation*} When zero is a regular point or a first-kind resonance of $H=Δ^2+V$, we first prove sharp $L^1\to L^\infty$ estimates for the solution operators: \begin{align*} \left\|\cos(t\sqrt{H})P_{\mathrm{ac}}(H)\right\|_{L^1\to L^\infty} + \left\|\frac{\sin(t\sqrt{H})}{t\sqrt{H}}P_{\mathrm{ac}}(H)\right\|_{L^1\to L^\infty} \lesssim \frac{1}{|t|}, \end{align*} and obtain an enhanced decay $(|t|\log|t|)^{-1}$ in logarithmically weighted spaces $L^1_ω\to L^\infty_{-ω}$ with $ω(x)=\log(2+|x|)$. For second-kind resonances of $H$ (the bi-Laplacian $Δ^2$ belongs to this class), a non-zero trace moment $\langle |x|^2V,ϕ\rangle\neq0$ for some second-kind resonance function $ϕ$ induces severe threshold singularities, worsening the $L^1\to L^\infty$ estimate to $|t|^{-1}(\log|t|)^2$. Finally, for third-kind resonances or a zero eigenvalue, we prove that the presence of $d$-wave resonance leads to the worst $L^1\to L^\infty$ decay rate $\sim(\log|t|)^{-1}$. Several improved estimates are also obtained without a $d$-wave resonance. In particular, in the pure eigenvalue case (i.e., neither $d$-wave nor $p$-wave resonance), both propagators recover the optimal unweighted $L^1\to L^\infty$ estimate $|t|^{-1}.$