An inverse theorem for the bilinear $L^2$ Strichartz estimate for the wave equation
Abstract
Description
A standard bilinear $L^2$ Strichartz estimate for the wave equation, which underlies the theory of $X^{s,b}$ spaces of Bourgain and Klainerman-Machedon, asserts (roughly speaking) that if two finite-energy solutions to the wave equation are supported in transverse regions of the light cone in frequency space, then their product lies in spacetime $L^2$ with a quantitative bound. In this paper we consider the \emph{inverse problem} for this estimate: if the product of two waves has large $L^2$ norm, what does this tell us about the waves themselves? The main result, roughly speaking, is that the lower-frequency wave is dispersed away from a bounded number of light rays. This result will be used in a forthcoming paper \cite{tao:heatwave4} of the author on the global regularity problem for wave maps.
20 pages, no figures. To be submitted in conjunction with other "heatwave" papers
20 pages, no figures. To be submitted in conjunction with other "heatwave" papers