The implementation of the unified transform to the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with periodic initial conditions

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the initial-boundary value problem for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with periodic boundary conditions can be efficiently solved using the unified transform method, leveraging its linearizable structure and explicit scattering data.

Contribution

It shows that the periodic boundary problem for NLS is linearizable within the UTM framework, enabling explicit solution representation using scattering data.

Findings

The periodic NLS problem is linearizable within the UTM.

Explicit jump matrices are expressed in terms of initial data.

The method extends to other integrable equations like KdV and mKdV.

Abstract

The unified transform method (UTM) provides a novel approach to the analysis of initial-boundary value problems for linear as well as for a particular class of nonlinear partial differential equations called integrable. If the latter equations are formulated in two dimensions (either one space and one time, or two space dimensions), the UTM expresses the solution in terms of a matrix Riemann-Hilbert (RH) problem with explicit dependence on the independent variables. For nonlinear integrable evolution equations, such as the celebrated nonlinear Schr\"odinger (NLS) equation, the associated jump matrices are computed in terms of the initial conditions and all boundary values. The unknown boundary values are characterized in terms of the initial datum and the given boundary conditions via the analysis of the so-called global relation. In general, this analysis involves the solution of certain nonlinear equations. In certain cases, called linearizable, it is possible to bypass this nonlinear step. In these cases, the UTM solves the given initial-boundary value problem with the same level of efficiency as the well-known inverse scattering transform solves the initial value problem on the infinite line. We show here that the initial-boundary value problem on a finite interval with $x$-periodic boundary conditions (which can alternatively be viewed as the initial value problem on a circle), belongs to the linearizable class. Indeed, by employing certain transformations of the associated RH problem and by using the global relation, the relevant jump matrices can be expressed explicitly in terms of the so-called scattering data, which are computed in terms of the initial datum. Details are given for NLS, but similar considerations are valid for other well-known integrable evolution equations, including the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) and modified KdV equations.