The focusing coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation with parallel nonzero boundary conditions: long--time asmptotics

Abstract

We study the long-time behavior of solutions of the focusing coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations with parallel constant nonzero boundary conditions in the solitonless setting. We distinguish three types of asymptotic regions: plane-wave regions, modulated elliptic-wave regions, and Painlevé-II transition regions. In each region, we derive the leading asymptotic term and the first correction, together with explicit error bounds. Our results show that, although localized perturbations may have components both parallel and orthogonal to the background, the leading asymptotic term is always parallel to the background vector. In particularly, in the elliptic-wave regions, the leading order is given by a scalar modulated elliptic wave multiplying the background vector, while the component of the solution orthogonal to the background is \(O(t^{-1/2})\). This is consistent with the linear stability analysis: the background is modulationally unstable to parallel perturbations but stable to orthogonal perturbations. The proof is based on applying the Deift--Zhou nonlinear steepest-descent method, together with a \(G\)-function mechanism, to the associated \(3\times3\) Riemann--Hilbert problem.