Asymptotic stability of the degree-one vortex in the abelian Yang-Mills-Higgs model: Linear Theory

Abstract

We study the linearized dynamics near the degree-one vortex of the $(1+2)$-dimensional abelian Yang-Mills-Higgs model at the self-dual coupling, restricted to equivariant perturbations in the orthogonal gauge. The linearized operator is a selfadjoint matrix Schr\"odinger operator $\mathbf{M}$ on radial $L^2_{\mathrm{rad}}(\mathbb{R}^2;\mathbb{R}^4)$ with continuous spectrum $[1,\infty)$ and a two-dimensional internal mode at a unique gap eigenvalue $\lambda^2 \in (0,1)$, as established in Part I of our three-paper series on asymptotic stability of the ground state vortex. In this second part of the series, we prove linear estimates for $\mathbf{M}$ for applications in Part III. Specifically, we prove dispersive and local-energy decay estimates, as well as a transference relation which allows us to implement the space-time resonance method with respect to the flat Klein-Gordon operator in the nonlinear analysis in Part III. The engine for proving linear estimates for $\mathbf{M}$ in our approach is the distorted Fourier transform associated with $\mathbf{M}$. The construction of the distorted Fourier transform together with a detailed analysis of the underlying generalized eigenfunctions occupy the first half of this paper. For this we exploit the super-symmetric factorization of $\mathbf{M}$, and the diagonal structure of the super-symmetric partner operator, to relate the problem to the Weyl-Titchmarsh theory of two strongly singular scalar half-line Schr\"odinger operators.