Ground States and Periodic--to--Localized Convergence in Two--Dimensional Saturable Discrete Nonlinear Schrödinger Equations

Abstract

We study a two--dimensional discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation with saturable nonlinearity on the lattice $\mathbb Z^2$. Using a variational approach based on the Nehari manifold, we establish the existence of nontrivial periodic ground states on finite lattices and establish the existence of exponentially localized ground states in $\ell^2(\mathbb Z^2)$. A principal result is the rigorous passage from periodic to localized states: we show that, up to lattice translations, periodic ground states converge strongly in $\ell^2(\mathbb Z^2)$ to a localized ground state as the lattice periods tend to infinity. The analysis combines variational methods, spectral properties of the discrete Laplacian, and concentration--compactness techniques adapted to the two--dimensional discrete setting. We further derive qualitative properties of the resulting solutions, including positivity and exponential localization, and establish a conditional orbital stability result within the Grillakis--Shatah--Strauss framework. Numerical computations illustrate the theoretical results and confirm the predicted convergence and localization behavior.