Classification of Asymptotic Profiles for Nonlinear Schr\"odinger Equations with Small Initial Data

Abstract

We consider a nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with a bounded local potential in $R^3$. The linear Hamiltonian is assumed to have two bound states with the eigenvalues satisfying some resonance condition. Suppose that the initial data are localized and small in $H^1$. We prove that exactly three local-in-space behaviors can occur as the time tends to infinity: 1. The solutions vanish; 2. The solutions converge to nonlinear ground states; 3. The solutions converge to nonlinear excited states. We also obtain upper bounds for the relaxation in all three cases. In addition, a matching lower bound for the relaxation to nonlinear ground states was given for a large set of initial data which is believed to be generic. Our proof is based on outgoing estimates of the dispersive waves which measure the relevant time-direction dependent information of the dispersive wave. These estimates, introduced in [16], provides the first general notion to measure the out-going tendency of waves in the setting of nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations.