No Arabic abstract
In a recent paper we have considered the long time asymptotics of the periodic Toda lattice under a short range perturbation and we have proved that the perturbed lattice asymptotically approaches a modulated lattice. In the present paper we capture the higher order asymptotics, at least away from some resonance regions. In particular we prove that the decay rate is $O(t^{-1/2})$. Our proof relies on the asymptotic analysis of the associated Riemann-Hilbert factorization problem, which is here set on a hyperelliptic curve. As in previous studies of the free Toda lattice, the higher order asymptotics arise from local Riemann-Hilbert factorization problems on small crosses centered on the stationary phase points. We discover that the analysis of such a local problem can be done in a chart around each stationary phase point and reduces to a Riemann--Hilbert factorization problem on the complex plane. This result can then be pulled back to the hyperelliptic curve.
We apply the method of nonlinear steepest descent to compute the long-time asymptotics of the periodic (and slightly more generally of the quasi-periodic finite-gap) Toda lattice for decaying initial data in the soliton region. In addition, we show how to reduce the problem in the remaining region to the known case without solitons.
We consider the stability of the periodic Toda lattice (and slightly more generally of the algebro-geometric finite-gap lattice) under a short range perturbation. We prove that the perturbed lattice asymptotically approaches a modulated lattice. More precisely, let $g$ be the genus of the hyperelliptic curve associated with the unperturbed solution. We show that, apart from the phenomenon of the solitons travelling on the quasi-periodic background, the $n/t$-pane contains $g+2$ areas where the perturbed solution is close to a finite-gap solution in the same isospectral torus. In between there are $g+1$ regions where the perturbed solution is asymptotically close to a modulated lattice which undergoes a continuous phase transition (in the Jacobian variety) and which interpolates between these isospectral solutions. In the special case of the free lattice ($g=0$) the isospectral torus consists of just one point and we recover the known result. Both the solutions in the isospectral torus and the phase transition are explicitly characterized in terms of Abelian integrals on the underlying hyperelliptic curve. Our method relies on the equivalence of the inverse spectral problem to a matrix Riemann--Hilbert problem defined on the hyperelliptic curve and generalizes the so-called nonlinear stationary phase/steepest descent method for Riemann--Hilbert problem deformations to Riemann surfaces.
We apply the method of nonlinear steepest descent to compute the long-time asymptotics of the Toda lattice for decaying initial data in the soliton region. In addition, we point out how to reduce the problem in the remaining region to the known case without solitons.
The purpose of this article is to give a streamlined and self-contained treatment of the long-time asymptotics of the Toda lattice for decaying initial data in the soliton and in the similarity region via the method of nonlinear steepest descent.
We derive the long-time asymptotics for the Toda shock problem using the nonlinear steepest descent analysis for oscillatory Riemann--Hilbert factorization problems. We show that the half plane of space/time variables splits into five main regions: The two regions far outside where the solution is close to free backgrounds. The middle region, where the solution can be asymptotically described by a two band solution, and two regions separating them, where the solution is asymptotically given by a slowly modulated two band solution. In particular, the form of this solution in the separating regions verifies a conjecture from Venakides, Deift, and Oba from 1991.