text:
# Solution of the Dirichlet boundary value problem for the Sine-Gordon equation11footnote 1Work supported in part by by INTAS 99-1782

## 1 Introduction

The sine-Gordon equation in light cone coordinates (dimensionless variables, subscript stands for partial derivative) for the field $`\theta (x,t)`$,

$$\theta _{xt}+\mathrm{sin}\theta =0,$$
(1.1)
is one of the most widely studied nonlinear wave equation because of its intrinsic mathematical properties and its wide applicability in physics. The initial value problem on the infinite line $`x(\mathrm{},+\mathrm{})`$, namely the initial datum $`\theta (x,0)`$ together with the asymptotic behaviors $`\theta =2n\pi `$ as $`x\pm \mathrm{}`$, has been solved by the inverse spectral transform (IST) in .

The boundary value problem for (1.1) on the quadrant $`\{x>0,t>0\}`$ has been solved in  and reconsidered in . In both approaches it has been shown that a constant boundary datum $`\theta (0,t)`$ on an initial vacuum $`\theta (x,0)=0`$ produces an infinite series of discrete eigenvalues with accumulation point at the origin. The problem is then that the Jost solutions are not continuous in a neighborhood of the real axis and the spectral theory fails.

We solve this problem by considering an alternative Lax pair for the sine-Gordon equation deduced from the work  on two-dimensional extensions of sine-Gordon. The principal spectral operator is the Schrödinger eigenvalue problem with complex potential that we reconsider on the half-line $`x>0`$ with a given boundary value of the potential in $`x=0`$.

The spectral theory developped here follows the approach introduced in  for stimulated Raman scattering, reformulated in , and later applied to others continuous  or discrete  coupled wave systems. In the next section the Lax pair is set and the boundary value problem is discussed. Section 3 is devoted to the solution of the direct spectral problem, namely to the method of construction of the spectral transform, or nonlinear Fourier transform, of the sine-Gordon field.

The time dependence of the spectral transform is then derived in section 4 where it appears to be a nonlinear Riccati type evolution. It is examined for particular boundary data and shown to lead asymptotically to a finite set of discrete eigenvalues (soliton component of the spectrum). In section 5 we solve the inverse problem which is the reconstruction of the sine-Gordon field from the spectral transform. This is done by formulating the reconstruction as a Hilbert boundary value problem. In doing this attention must be paid to the asymptotic boundary values in the spectral plane required for the solutions of this Hilbert boundary value problem. Indeed one of the Jost solution has an essential singularity for large real values of the spectral parameter. Still the solution can be obtained by a Cauchy-Green integral equation with a contour of integration that differs from the one used in the infinite line case. The spectral theory of the Schrödinger operator on the half-line can also be developped within the Gel’Fand-Levitan-Marchenko fromalism as shown in  where the boundary value problem for the Korteveg-de Vries equation is studied.

## 2 Alternative Lax pair for sine-Gordon

### Weakly commuting operators.

Let us consider the following pair of scalar operators: the principal spectral operator

$$T_1=_{xx}+k^2p,$$
(2.1)
where $`p(x,t)`$ is the principal potential, and the auxiliary spectral operator

$$T_2=_{xt}+\alpha _t+\beta ,$$
(2.2)
where $`\alpha (x,t)`$ and $`\beta (x,t)`$ are the auxiliary potentials.

Originaly introduced for two-dimensional problems , the weak compatibility of those operators results in requiring that they commute on their common eigenspace. In other words

$$[T_1,T_2]=fT_1+gT_2,$$
(2.3)
where $`f`$ and $`g`$ are two unknown functions. Straightforward examination of highest order derivatives gives

$$f=0,g=2\alpha _x,$$
(2.4)
hence we are left with the operatorial equation

$$[T_1,T_2]=2\alpha _xT_2.$$
(2.5)
This equation exlpicitely implies the following system

$`p_x=\alpha _{xx}+2\alpha \alpha _x,`$ (2.6)
$`p_t=2\beta _x,`$ (2.7)
$`p_{xt}+\alpha p_t=\beta _{xx}+2\alpha _x\beta ,`$ (2.8)
in which two equations allow to eliminate two fields and the remaining equation is the nonlinear evolution.

### The sine-Gordon equation.

Assuming for all $`t`$ the asymptotic behaviors (we will prove later that these behaviors result from the properties of the initial datum)

$$x\mathrm{}:\left\{p0,\alpha 0,\alpha _x0,\beta _x0\right\},$$
(2.9)
two of the above equation can be integrated and give

$$\beta _x=2\alpha \beta ,p=\alpha ^2\alpha _x,$$
(2.10)
while the remaining equation reads as the evolution

$$p_t=2\beta _x.$$
(2.11)
To eliminate two fields we define the new variable $`\theta (x,t)`$ by

$$\beta =\frac{1}{4}e^{i\theta },$$
(2.12)
which from (2.9) will be assumed to obey

$$\theta _x\underset{x\mathrm{}}{}0.$$
(2.13)
The relation (2.10) then gives $`p`$ and $`\alpha `$ in terms of $`\theta `$ as

$$\alpha =\frac{i}{2}\theta _x,p=\frac{i}{2}\theta _{xx}\frac{1}{4}\theta _x^2,$$
(2.14)
where one can check that the behavior (2.13) ensures the asymptotic expressions (2.9).

The evolution $`p_t=2\beta _x`$ can then be factorized as

$$\{\frac{}{x}+i\theta _x\}\left(\theta _{xt}+\mathrm{sin}\theta \right)=0.$$
(2.15)
This can be integrated once and the integration constant can be evaluated by reading the evolution as $`x\mathrm{}`$ where $`\theta \lambda `$. The results is the following complex extension of the sine-Gordon equation

$$\theta _{xt}+e^{i\lambda }\mathrm{sin}(\theta \lambda )=0,\lambda =\underset{x\mathrm{}}{lim}\theta $$
(2.16)
associated to the asymptotic behavior (2.13). Note that in general the parameter $`\lambda `$ is a function of time $`t`$.

In the case of real valued $`\theta `$, and hence real valued $`\lambda `$, the above evolution implies $`\lambda =0`$ and hence reduces to

$$\theta \theta _{xt}+\mathrm{sin}\theta =0,\theta \underset{x\mathrm{}}{}0mod2\pi .$$
(2.17)
Thus the standard sine-Gordon equation results as the weak compatibility of operators $`T_1`$ and $`T_2`$ for real valued field $`\theta `$.

It is important to remark here that the imposed vanishing asymptotic behavior of the derivative $`\theta _x`$ for all $`t`$ as given in (2.13) actually results from the above assumed asymptotic behavior of $`\theta `$ as soon as $`\theta _x`$ vanishes at infinity at initial time. Indeed, by integration of the sine-Gordon equation we can write

$$\theta _x(x,t)=\theta _x(x,0)_0^t𝑑\tau \mathrm{sin}\theta (x,\tau ).$$
(2.18)
This expression serves actually as a means to go from Dirichlet to Neuman conditions on the boundaries $`x=0`$ and $`x=\mathrm{}`$. It is also useful to prove that the assumed vanishing asymptotic behavior of the principal potential $`p(x,t)`$ results from the asymptotic value of $`\theta (x,t)`$. Indeed, upon derivation of (2.18) it is easy to obtain that if the initial datum is such that $`\theta _x(x,0)`$ and $`\theta _{xx}(x,0)`$ vanish as $`x\mathrm{}`$, then $`\theta _{xx}`$ vanishes for all time as $`x\mathrm{}`$.

Note also that the expression (2.16) of the sine-Gordon equation for complex variable can be put in the form (2.17) by the following change of variables

$$\phi =\theta \lambda ,\tau =_0^t𝑑t^{}e^{i\lambda (t^{})},$$
(2.19)
which gives

$$\phi _{x\tau }+\mathrm{sin}\phi =0,\phi \underset{x\mathrm{}}{}0mod2\pi .$$
(2.20)
We have assumed hereafter the general situation where the constant $`\lambda `$ is allowed to depend on time $`t`$.

### Dirichlet boundary data.

We consider then the sine-Gordon equation (1.1), a priori for a complex field $`\theta `$, on the strip

$$\{x[0,\mathrm{}]\}\{t[0,T]\},$$
(2.21)
for any value of $`T`$. The Dirichlet conditions are the data of the function $`\theta (x,t)`$ on the L-shape boundaries of this strip, namely

$$t=0:\theta (x,0)=\stackrel{~}{\theta }(x),x=0:\theta (0,t)=\theta _0(t).$$
(2.22)
The auxiliary spectral operator (2.2) explicitely contains the variable $`\alpha (x,t)`$ which has then to be evaluated in $`x=0`$ explicitely in terms of the Dirichlet data (2.22). By expressing (2.18) in $`x=0`$ we have

$$\theta _x(0,t)=\stackrel{~}{\theta }_x(0)_0^t𝑑\tau \mathrm{sin}\theta _0(\tau ),$$
(2.23)
which from (2.14) gives

$$\alpha _0(t)=\frac{i}{2}_0^t𝑑\tau \mathrm{sin}\theta _0(\tau )\frac{i}{2}\stackrel{~}{\theta }_x(0),$$
(2.24)
where $`\alpha _0=\alpha (0,t)`$ is then completely determined from (2.22). Similarly we have to evaluate $`p_0(t)=p(0,t)`$ occuring in the principal Lax operator. By derivation of (2.18) we obtain

$$p_0(t)=\frac{i}{2}\stackrel{~}{\theta }_{xx}(0)\frac{i}{2}_0^t𝑑\tau \theta _x(0,\tau )\mathrm{cos}\theta _0(\tau )\frac{1}{4}\theta _x^2(0,t),$$
(2.25)
where $`\theta _x(0,t)`$ is explicitely given in (2.23). We have then obtained that the data of $`\theta _0(t)`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }(x)`$ determine completely the boundary values in $`x=0`$ of the potentials of the fundamental operators $`T_1`$ and $`T_2`$.

For the other boundary $`x=\mathrm{}`$ we first select a class of functions for the initial datum $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }(x)`$. As usual for implementation of the spectral transform, let us assume that $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }(x)`$ belongs to the Schwartz space $`𝒮`$ (bounded functions that vanish with all their derivatives faster than any power of $`1/x`$). Although this condition is rather stringent, it fits well a generic physical situation, in particular the case of an initial vacuum. It is then easy to obtain from (2.18) the property

$$\left\{\stackrel{~}{\theta }(x)𝒮,\theta (\mathrm{},t)=0mod2\pi \right\}\theta _x(\mathrm{},t)=0.$$
(2.26)
This can be worked again for the second derivative and finally the potentials $`p(x,t)`$ and $`\alpha (x,t)`$ do vanish as $`x\mathrm{}`$ and $`\beta `$ goes asymptotically to $`1/4`$.

## 3 Spectral problem

The Schrödinger spectral problem on the half-line $`T_1\psi =0`$ with complex potential, namely

$$x>0,\psi _{xx}+(k^2p)\psi =0,p(0)=p_0,$$
(3.1)
is solved now and the inverse problem will be takled by means of a Hilbert boundary value problem. A partial solution has already been given in , in the case of real valued potential. We rework everything here with slightly different definitions and in particular give the complete solution of the Hilbert boundary value problem. Note that this spectral problem has also been considered in .

### Basic solutions.

We redefine the spectral equation as

$$\psi =\varphi e^{ikx},\varphi _{xx}+2ik\varphi _xp\varphi =0,$$
(3.2)
and select two basic solutions $`\varphi ^+`$ and $`\varphi ^{}`$ by

$`\varphi ^{}(k,x)=1`$ $`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2ik}}{\displaystyle _0^x}𝑑y\varphi ^{}(k,y)p(y)[1e^{2ik(xy)}],`$ (3.3)
$`\varphi ^+(k,x)=1`$ $`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2ik}}{\displaystyle _0^x}𝑑y\varphi ^+(k,y)p(y)`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2ik}}{\displaystyle _x^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑y\varphi ^+(k,y)p(y)e^{2ik(xy)}.`$ (3.4)
where conditions on $`p(x)`$ are assumed (e.g. $`p(x)`$ belongs to the Schwartz space) that ensure uniqueness of the solution of the above integral equations. It is useful to compute the derivatives

$`\varphi _x^{}(k,x)={\displaystyle _0^x}𝑑y\varphi ^{}(k,y)p(y)e^{2ik(xy)},`$ (3.5)
$`\varphi _x^+(k,x)={\displaystyle _x^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑y\varphi ^+(k,y)p(y)e^{2ik(xy)}.`$ (3.6)
An important property for the following is that another set of basic solutions is constituted by $`\varphi ^\pm (k,x)e^{2ikx}`$. Another important property is the fact that the wronskian of two solutions of (3.1) ia a constant, which means for any two solutions $`\varphi _1`$ and $`\varphi _2`$ of (3.2)

$$W(\varphi _1,\varphi _2)=\varphi _{1,x}\varphi _2\varphi _1\varphi _{2,x}=Ce^{2ikx},$$
(3.7)
where $`C`$ is a constant.

### Spectral transform.

The solution $`\varphi ^+`$ is called the physical solution and serves to define the scattering coefficients as follows. The boundary value in $`x=0`$

$$x=0:\varphi ^+=1+\rho (k),$$
(3.8)
defines the reflection coefficient $`\rho (k)`$ as

$$\rho (k)=\frac{1}{2ik}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑yp(y)\varphi ^+(k,y)e^{2iky},$$
(3.9)
and consequently (3.6) gives

$$x=0:\varphi _x^+=2ik\rho (k).$$
(3.10)
The boundary value in $`x=\mathrm{}`$

$$x\mathrm{}:\varphi ^+\tau (k),$$
(3.11)
defines the transmission coefficient $`\tau (k)`$ as

$$\tau (k)=1+\frac{1}{2ik}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑yp(y)\varphi ^+(k,y),$$
(3.12)
and we have also

$$x\mathrm{}:\varphi _x^+0.$$
(3.13)
The wronskian relation (3.7) applied to the solutions $`\varphi ^+(k)`$ and $`\varphi ^+(k)e^{2ikx}`$ at $`x=0`$ and $`x=\mathrm{}`$ successively gives

$$\rho (k)\rho (k)+\tau (k)\tau (k)=1,$$
(3.14)
called the unitarity relation.

From its very definition, the spectral tranfrom $`\rho (k)`$ seems to be ill defined in $`k=0`$. Actually we recall in the appendix A that

$$k=0:\rho =1,\tau =0,$$
(3.15)
which is well known in the infinite line case .

### Hilbert boundary value problem

The solution $`\varphi ^{}`$ is called the intermediate solution and serves to complete the basis. We can for instance express $`\varphi ^+(k)`$ in terms of the basis $`\varphi ^{}(k)`$ and $`\varphi ^{}(k)e^{2ikx}`$, the coefficients being computed by comparing the values in $`x=0`$ of both the functions and their derivatives. We obtain

$$\varphi ^+(k,x)\varphi ^{}(k,x)=\rho (k)e^{2ikx}\varphi ^{}(k,x),$$
(3.16)
which constitutes a Hilbert problem of the real $`k`$-axis, we shall come to that argument later. For the moment we express the above relation by changing $`k`$ to $`k`$ and solve the resulting linear system for the function $`\varphi ^{}(k)`$ to obtain

$$\varphi ^{}(k,x)=\frac{1}{1\rho (k)\rho (k)}\left[\varphi ^+(k,x)\rho (k)e^{2ikx}\varphi ^+(k,x)\right].$$
(3.17)
Using the definitions of $`\varphi ^{}`$ and $`\varphi _x^{}`$ and the above relation we can compute the different boundary values and get

$`x=0:`$ $`\varphi ^{}=1,\varphi _x^{}=0,`$ (3.18)
$`x=\mathrm{}:`$ $`\varphi ^{}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\tau (k)}}{\displaystyle \frac{\rho (k)}{\tau (k)}}e^{2ikx},\varphi _x^{}2ik{\displaystyle \frac{\rho (k)}{\tau (k)}}e^{2ikx},`$ (3.19)
where we have also used the unitarity relation (3.14).

## 4 Solution of sine-Gordon

We have constructed in the preceding section the spectral transform $`\rho (k)`$ of the principal potential $`p(x)`$. We shall prove in section 5 that the datum of $`\rho (k)`$ in the upper half plane completely determines the potential $`p(x)`$, and we shall give the tools to reconstruct this potential. But we consider first the question of the time dependence of the spectral transform when the potential depends on time according to the evolutions (2.10), reducing to sine-Gordon in the real valued variable $`\theta `$.

### Evolution of the spectral transform.

From the weak compatibility commutation (2.5) of operators $`T_1`$ and $`T_2`$, the selected eigenfunctions $`\psi ^\pm `$ are not eigenfunctions of $`T_2`$ and our purpose here is to determine their proper time evolution. Equation (2.5) implies the property

$$T_1\psi =0(T_12\alpha _x)T_2\psi =0,$$
(4.1)
and thus using the remarkable identity

$$T_1\psi =0(T_12\alpha _x)(\psi _x+\alpha \psi )=0,$$
(4.2)
which simply results from the structure of $`T_1`$ in terms of the potential $`\alpha `$, we may write

$$T_2\psi ^+=\mathrm{\Omega }(\psi _x^++\alpha \psi ^+).$$
(4.3)
Hereabove, the $`x`$-independent coefficient $`\mathrm{\Omega }(k,t)`$ is called the generalized dispersion relation. Note that one should actually expand $`T_2\psi ^+`$ on a basis, say $`\psi _x^+(k)+\alpha \psi ^+(k)`$ and $`\psi _x^+(k)+\alpha \psi ^+(k)`$, but examination of the asymptotic behaviors as $`x\mathrm{}`$ readily reduces the expansion to the form (4.3) and gives the evolution

$$\tau _t=\left[\mathrm{\Omega }\frac{1}{4ik}\right]\tau ,$$
(4.4)
of the transmission coefficient.

The value of the dispersion relation $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ together with the time evolution of $`\rho `$ are obtained by expressing equation (4.3) and its $`x`$-derivative in $`x=0`$. We obtain

$`(\alpha _0ik)\rho _t+`$ $`\beta _0(1+\rho )=\mathrm{\Omega }[\alpha _0(1+\rho )+ik(1\rho )],`$ (4.5)
$`(\alpha _0^2ik\alpha _0k^2)\rho _t+`$ $`2\alpha _0\beta _0(1+\rho )+ik\beta _0(1\rho )=`$
$`\mathrm{\Omega }[(\alpha _0^2k^2)(1+\rho )+ik\alpha _0(1\rho )].`$ (4.6)
where we have used the expressions $`p=\alpha ^2\alpha _x`$ and $`\beta _x=2\alpha \beta `$ and the equation $`T_1\psi =0`$. This is a system of equations for the unknowns $`\{\rho _t,\mathrm{\Omega }\}`$ in terms of the boundary data $`\alpha _0`$ and $`\beta _0`$ and of $`\rho `$. Note that it is compatible with (see appendix A)

$$k=0\{\rho =1,\tau =0\}.$$
(4.7)
Multiplying the first equation by $`\alpha _0`$ and substracting with the second gives

$$\rho _t=(1+\rho )\left[\mathrm{\Omega }+\beta _0\frac{\alpha _0}{k^2}\right]\frac{\beta _0}{ik}(1\rho ).$$
(4.8)
Replaced in any of the preceding equations, we obtain the dispersion relation which after some algebra can be written

$$\mathrm{\Omega }=\rho \frac{\alpha _0\beta _0}{2ik^3}(\alpha _02ik)+\frac{\beta _0}{2ik^3}(\alpha _0^2+2k^2).$$
(4.9)
Thus the evolution of the reflection coefficient eventually reads as the Riccati differential equation

$$\rho _t=a\rho ^2+b\rho +c,$$
(4.10)
with entries which depend on the boundary data by

$$a=\frac{\alpha _0\beta _0}{2ik^3}(\alpha _02ik),b=\frac{\beta _0}{ik^3}(\alpha _0^2+2k^2),c=\frac{\alpha _0\beta _0}{2ik^3}(\alpha _0+2ik).$$
(4.11)
### Soliton generation.

To illustrate the above formalism we consider the case of a piecewise constant boundary datum, i.e.

$$t=0:\stackrel{~}{\theta }(x)=0,t<t_1:\theta _0(t)=0,t>t_1:\theta _0(t)=\phi .$$
(4.12)
For such a simple case, the Zakharov-Shabat spectral transform has been shown to generate an infinite number of discrete eigenvalues with $`k=0`$ as an accumulation point .

Here we have from (2.24)

$`t<t_1:\alpha _0(t)=0,\beta _0={\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}},`$
$`t>t_1:\alpha _0(t)={\displaystyle \frac{i}{2}}(tt_1)\mathrm{sin}\phi ,\beta _0={\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}e^{i\phi }.`$ (4.13)
For such expressions, the time-evolution (4.10), with vanishing initial condition $`\rho (k,0)=0`$, cannot be explicitely solved. However we can evaluate the large time asymptotic behavior as indeed

$`{\displaystyle \frac{b}{a}}=2{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha _0^2+2k^2}{\alpha _0(\alpha _02ik)}}\underset{t\mathrm{}}{}2,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{c}{a}}={\displaystyle \frac{\alpha _0+2ik}{\alpha _02ik}}\underset{t\mathrm{}}{}1.`$ (4.14)
The resulting asymptotic evolution then reads

$$\rho _ta(\rho +1)^2,$$
(4.15)
which is easily solved to eventually get for large time $`t`$

$$\rho (k,t)\frac{e^{i\phi }\mathrm{sin}\phi [\frac{1}{3}(tt_1)\mathrm{sin}\phi k](tt_1)^2}{32ik^3+e^{i\phi }\mathrm{sin}\phi [\frac{1}{3}(tt_1)\mathrm{sin}\phi k](tt_1)^2}.$$
(4.16)
This function has 3 simple poles $`k_n(t)`$ given by

$$k_n(t)=(tt_1)Z_n,32iZ_n^32e^{i\phi }\mathrm{sin}\phi Z_n+\frac{1}{3}e^{i\phi }\mathrm{sin}^2\phi =0.$$
(4.17)
For different values of $`\phi `$, one or two of these poles are in the upper half plane corresponding to a solution with a one-soliton or a two-soliton component.

Note that the Riccati time evolution (4.10) is not in general explicitely solvable. Indeed, simple explicit solution could only be obtained for $`b/a`$ and $`c/a`$ time independent which would immediately lead to $`\theta _0(t)=0`$. Such does not occur in the Zakharov-Shabat spectral transform of sine-Gordon where piecewise constant boundary data in $`x=0`$ produce an explicitely solvable evolution . Then it has been shown that the spectral transform contains an infinite series of poles, accordingly with , see also . The problem is that these poles possess an accumulation point (the origin $`k=0`$) and hence some of the basic solutions are not continuous in the vicinity of the origin. Using the present spectral transform based on the Schrödinger spectral problem removes this problem and thus provides the correct solution to the Dirichlet boundary value problem for sine-Gordon in light-cone coordinates.

## 5 Inverse problem

Solving the inverse problem will consist in computing the potential $`p(x)`$ from the datum of $`\rho (k)`$. This is done by solving first the Hilbert boundary value problem (3.16) which actually requires the knowledge of the analytical properties of the functions $`\varphi ^\pm (k)`$ together with their behaviors at large $`k`$.

### Analytical properties.

The Volterra integral equation (3.3) allows to deduce that $`\varphi ^{}`$ is an entire function of $`k`$ bounded in the lower half plane. The function $`\varphi ^+`$ is not analytic but the function $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi }^+=\varphi ^+/\tau `$ solves the Volterra integral equation

$$\stackrel{~}{\varphi }^+=1\frac{1}{2ik}_x^{\mathrm{}}𝑑y\stackrel{~}{\varphi }^+(k,y)p(y)\left[1e^{2ik(xy)}\right].$$
(5.1)
Hence $`\varphi ^+/\tau `$ is analytic in the upper half-plane and thus, from definition (3.12), $`1/\tau `$ is also analytic. Consequently $`\varphi ^+`$ has a pole where $`1/\tau `$ has a zero, these are the discrete eigenvalues of the spectral transform named $`k_n`$.

The definition (3.9) of the reflection coefficient shows that $`\rho `$ can be extended to the upper half plane (unlike in the infinite line case where the integral would run on the whole real axis) where it possess the discrete eigenvalues as poles. The integral equation (3.4) can be rewritten as

$$\varphi ^+=1+\rho e^{2ikx}+\frac{1}{2ik}_0^x𝑑y\varphi ^+(k,y)p(y)[1e^{2ik(xy)}].$$
(5.2)
By taking the residue of the above in $`k_n`$ we get

$$e^{2ik_nx}\underset{k_n}{\mathrm{Res}}(\varphi ^+)=\rho _\mathrm{n}\frac{1}{2\mathrm{i}\mathrm{k}_\mathrm{n}}_0^\mathrm{x}[\mathrm{e}^{2\mathrm{i}\mathrm{k}_\mathrm{n}\mathrm{y}}\underset{\mathrm{k}_\mathrm{n}}{\mathrm{Res}}(\varphi ^+)]\mathrm{p}(\mathrm{y})[1\mathrm{e}^{2\mathrm{i}\mathrm{k}_\mathrm{n}(\mathrm{x}\mathrm{y})}],$$
(5.3)
where obviously

$$\rho _n=\underset{k_n}{\mathrm{Res}}(\rho ).$$
(5.4)
By comparaison of the above integral equation with the one for the function $`\varphi ^{}(k,x)`$ read in $`k=k_n`$ we immediately conclude that

$$e^{2ik_nx}\underset{k_n}{\mathrm{Res}}(\varphi ^+(\mathrm{k},\mathrm{x}))=\rho _\mathrm{n}\varphi ^{}(\mathrm{k}_\mathrm{n},\mathrm{x}).$$
(5.5)
This closes the analytical properties needed to the solution of the Hilbert boundary value problem.

### Asymptotic behaviors.

It is necessary now to determine the large $`k`$ behaviors of the solutions $`\varphi ^\pm `$. By repeated integration by part, the solutions obey

$`\varphi ^+(k,x)1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2ik}}\varphi ^{(1)}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{(2ik)^2}}\varphi ^{(2)}+\mathrm{}`$ (5.6)
$`\varphi ^{}(k,x)1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2ik}}\varphi ^{(1)}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{(2ik)^2}}\left[\varphi ^{(2)}+\phi ^{(2)}e^{2ikx}\right]+\mathrm{}`$ (5.7)
with the following coefficients

$`\varphi ^{(1)}={\displaystyle _0^x}𝑑yp(y),`$ (5.8)
$`\varphi ^{(2)}=p(x)+{\displaystyle _0^x}𝑑yp(y){\displaystyle _0^y}𝑑zp(z),`$ (5.9)
$`\phi ^{(2)}=p_0.`$ (5.10)
The solution of the Hilbert problem will have to verify those behaviors, with in particular the essential singularity for $`\varphi ^{}`$ on the real axis.

The relation (5.8) furnishes the means to obtain the potential $`p`$ from the solution $`\varphi ^+`$ namely

$$p(x)=_x\varphi ^{(1)}(x),$$
(5.11)
where $`\varphi ^{(1)}`$ is the coefficient of $`1/2ik`$ in the large $`k`$ expansion of $`\varphi ^+(k,x)`$. Note finally that the spectral transform $`\rho (k)`$ obeys in the upper half-plane

$$\rho (k)=\frac{p_0}{(2ik)^2}+𝒪(1/k^3),$$
(5.12)
obtained again by integration by part on the definition (3.9) with help of the behavior (5.6). Note that this is consistent with the boundary value of $`\varphi ^+`$ in $`x=0`$ given in (3.8) and the large $`k`$ behavior (5.6). Indeed

$`\varphi ^+\underset{x0}{}1+\rho \underset{k\mathrm{}}{}1{\displaystyle \frac{p_0}{(2ik)^2}}+\mathrm{}`$
$`\varphi ^+\underset{k\mathrm{}}{}1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2ik}}\varphi ^{(1)}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{(2ik)^2}}\varphi ^{(2)}+\mathrm{}\underset{x0}{}1{\displaystyle \frac{p_0}{(2ik)^2}}+\mathrm{}`$
This works as well for $`\varphi ^{}`$, hence in summary, the limits $`k\mathrm{}`$ and $`x0`$ commute.

### Solution of the Hilbert problem.

The solution $`\varphi ^\pm `$ of the Hilbert boundary value problem (3.16) which verifies the preceding analytical properties and large $`k`$ behaviors is given from the data of $`\rho (k)`$ in $`\mathrm{Im}(k)0`$ (including eigenvalues $`k_n`$ in the upper half-plane and related residues $`\rho _n`$) by the Cauchy-Green integral equation

$`\varphi ^{}(k,x)=1`$ $`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2i\pi }}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}+i0}^{+\mathrm{}+i0}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\lambda }{\lambda k}}\varphi ^{}(\lambda ,x)\rho (\lambda )e^{2i\lambda x}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{N}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{\rho _ne^{2ik_nx}}{k_nk}}\varphi ^{}(k_n,x),\mathrm{Im}(k)0,`$ (5.13)
and the explicit formula

$`\varphi ^+(k,x)=1`$ $`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2i\pi }}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}i0}^{+\mathrm{}i0}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\lambda }{\lambda k}}\varphi ^{}(\lambda ,x)\rho (\lambda )e^{2i\lambda x}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{N}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{\rho _ne^{2ik_nx}}{k_nk}}\varphi ^{}(k_n,x),\mathrm{Im}(k)0,.`$ (5.14)
As shown for the first time in , the choice of the particular contour in the complex plane for the above expressions is essential.

Indeed, while the factor $`e^{2i\lambda x}`$ produces a bounded kernel for $`x>0`$ in the lower half $`\lambda `$-plane, it does not so in the upper half $`\lambda `$-plane, that is for the expression of $`\varphi ^{}`$. Assuming no pole for $`\rho `$ on the real axis, we can use contour integration on (5.13) to write

$`\varphi ^{}(k,x)`$ $`=1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2i\pi }}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}i0}^{+\mathrm{}i0}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\lambda }{\lambda k}}\varphi ^{}(\lambda ,x)\rho (\lambda )e^{2i\lambda x}`$
$`\varphi ^{}(k,x)\rho (k)e^{2ikx}+{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{N}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{\rho _ne^{2ik_nx}}{k_nk}}\varphi ^{}(k_n,x).`$ (5.15)
The first consequence is that indeed these solution obey the Hilbert relation (3.16). The second consequence is that they do verify the asymptotic behaviors (5.6) and (5.7) obtained here simply by expanding the ratio $`1/(\lambda k)`$ in expressions (5.14) and (5.15) where kernels are bounded, unlike in (5.13).

The analytical properties naturaly follow the expressions (5.14) and (5.13). Indeed, as $`\mathrm{Im}(k_n)>0`$, the analyticity of the solution $`\varphi ^{}(k,x)`$ of (5.13) simply result from the property (continuity, boundedness) of $`\rho (k)`$ on the real axis. Then the solution $`\varphi ^+(k,x)`$, given by the explicit expression (5.14), appears as the sum of an analytic function and the contribution of its simple poles $`k_n`$. Finally the relation (5.5) between the residue of $`\varphi ^+`$ in $`k_n`$ and $`\rho _n`$ readily follows from expression (5.14).

### Reconstruction of $`\theta (x,t)`$.

Once the spectral transform $`\rho (k,t)`$ has been obtained by solving the Riccati time evolution (4.10) for the initial datum $`\rho (k,0)`$, the solution of sine-Gordon $`\theta (x,t)`$ is built out of the integral equation (5.13) as follows. The relation (5.11) gives the value of $`p(x,t)`$ from the coefficient $`\varphi ^{(1)}(x,t)`$ of $`1/2ik`$ in the large $`k`$ expansion of $`\varphi ^+(k,x,t)`$, namely

$`\varphi ^{(1)}(x,t)=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\pi }}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}i0}^{+\mathrm{}i0}}𝑑\lambda \varphi ^{}(\lambda ,x,t)\rho (\lambda ,t)e^{2i\lambda x}`$
$`2i{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{N}{}}}\varphi ^{}(k_n,x,t)\rho _ne^{2ik_nx}.`$ (5.16)
This expression shows the two building components of the solution: the radiation component represented by the continuous integral and the soliton component represented by the discrete sum. Note that the number $`N`$ and positions $`k_n`$ of the solitons depend on time as allowed by the Riccati time evolution (4.10).

The simplest way to obtain now the solution $`\theta (x,t)`$ is to use the relations

$$p_t=2\beta _x,p=\varphi _x^{(1)},$$
(5.17)
easily integrated with the values in $`x=0`$ of $`\beta `$. We eventually arrive at

$$e^{i\theta (x,t)}=e^{i\theta _0(t)}2_t\varphi ^{(1)}(x,t).$$
(5.18)
This provides then the solution $`\theta (x,t)`$ from the boundary value $`\theta _0(t)`$ and the solution $`\varphi ^{}(k,x,t)`$ of the integral equation (5.13) completely determined by $`\rho (k,t)`$.

## 6 Conclusion

The solution of the Dirichlet boundary value problem for the sine-Gordon equation has been shown to be completely characterized by the time-evolution (4.10) of the spectral transform $`\rho (k,t)`$ evolving explicitely the boundary datum $`\theta (0,t)`$, with an initial datum $`\rho (k,0)`$ determined from the initial condition $`\theta (x,0)`$.

This solution has many important aspects. First the solution is stable for initial conditions in the Schwartz space, much like what occurs for the infinite line case. Second, the time evolution of the spectral transform is regular in the sense that it does not produces accumulation of poles. Last but not least this approach allows to treat the finite line case as indeed it is an open-end boundary value problem. This property was already remarked in  and later discussed in , and mainly results from the fact that the solution is completely determined by the integral equation (5.13) where the $`x`$-dependence is parametric.

In order now to descibe in more details interesting generic behaviors of the solution of sine-Gordon, we would need to study the Riccati time evolution (4.10) where the coefficients are time-dependent. This aspect of the work is reported to further studies as it would require use of numerical simulations.

## Appendix A Behaviors at the origin

The definition (3.4) of the solution $`\varphi ^+(k,x)`$ and the Hilbert relation (3.16) written both in $`x=0`$ lead to the system (in $`k=0`$ we note $`\varphi (0,x)=\varphi _0(x)`$ and $`\rho (0)=\rho _0`$)

$`\varphi _0^+(x)=1+\rho _0{\displaystyle _x^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑y(xy)\varphi _0^+(y)p(y),`$ (A.1)
$`\varphi _0^+(x)=[1+\rho _0]\varphi _0^{}(x),`$ (A.2)
while $`\varphi _0^{}`$ solves

$$\varphi _0^{}(x)=1+_0^x𝑑y(xy)\varphi _0^{}(y)p(y).$$
(A.3)
As the above Volterra integral equation has a unique solution, $`\varphi _0^{}`$ does not vanish and the equation (A.1) can be written by using (A.2) as

$$\varphi _0^+(x)\left[11/\varphi _0^{}(x)\right]=_x^{\mathrm{}}𝑑y(xy)\varphi _0^+(y)p(y).$$
(A.4)
This has the unique vanishing solution and consequently we have proved that

$$\varphi _0^+(x)=0,\rho _0=1.$$
(A.5)
Finally the unitarity relation (3.14) leads immediately $`\tau (0)=0`$ as expected.

## Appendix B Reduction

We determine here the symmetry properties of the basic solutions and the spectral transform resulting from the constraint $`\theta `$. First we note that

$$\theta T_1^{}=T_12\alpha _x,$$
(B.1)
where for any function $`f(k)`$ of the complex variable $`k`$, we define

$$f^{}=\overline{f}(\overline{k}).$$
(B.2)
Second the operator $`T_1`$ has the property (4.2) and consequently when $`\theta `$ is real valued (or equivalently when $`\alpha `$ is purely imaginary), the eigenfunctions $`\psi ^{}`$ and $`\psi _x+\alpha \psi `$ are linearly dependent, namely

$`(_x+\alpha )\psi ^+(k)=A\overline{\psi }^+(\overline{k})+B\overline{\psi }^+(\overline{k}),`$ (B.3)
$`(_x+\alpha )\psi ^{}(k)=C\overline{\psi }^+(\overline{k})+D\overline{\psi }^+(\overline{k}).`$ (B.4)
The coefficients hereabove are computed by expressing these expansions in $`x=\mathrm{}`$ with help of (3.11) and (3.19). We obtain using $`\alpha (\mathrm{})=0`$

$`A=0,`$ $`B=ik{\displaystyle \frac{\tau (k)}{\overline{\tau }(\overline{k})}},`$ (B.5)
$`C=ik{\displaystyle \frac{\rho (k)}{\tau (k)\overline{\tau }(\overline{k})}},`$ $`D={\displaystyle \frac{ik}{\tau (k)\overline{\tau }(\overline{k})}}.`$ (B.6)
The next step consists in expressing (B.3) and (B.4) in $`x=0`$ which results in a set of two equations linking the spectral coefficients and the boundary value $`\alpha _0`$. By eliminating $`\alpha _0`$ between these two equations and after some simple algebra using the unitarity relation (3.14) we eventually obtain first

$$\frac{1}{2}\frac{[1+\overline{\rho }(\overline{k})][1+\rho (k)]}{\tau (k)\overline{\tau }(\overline{k})}+\frac{1}{2}\frac{[1+\overline{\rho }(\overline{k})][1+\rho (k)]}{\tau (k)\overline{\tau }(\overline{k})}=1,$$
(B.7)
which constitutes the condition for a spectral transform $`\rho (k)`$ to ensure a real valued reconstructed field $`\theta (x)`$. The second equation gives a relation between the boundary value $`\alpha _0`$ and the spectral transform, namely

$$\alpha _0=ik\left[1\frac{1+\overline{\rho }(\overline{k})}{\tau (k)\overline{\tau }(\overline{k})}\rho (k)\frac{1+\overline{\rho }(\overline{k})}{\tau (k)\overline{\tau }(\overline{k})}\right].$$
(B.8)
This relation must in particular be valid as $`k\mathrm{}`$ where the behaviors of the spectral coefficients $`\rho `$ and $`\tau `$ are given by

$`\rho (k){\displaystyle \frac{p_0}{4k^2}}+𝒪({\displaystyle \frac{1}{k^3}}),`$ (B.9)
$`\tau (k)1+{\displaystyle \frac{\gamma }{2ik}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\gamma ^2}{2(2ik)^2}}+𝒪({\displaystyle \frac{1}{k^3}}).`$ (B.10)
The behavior of $`\tau `$ is obtained from its definition (3.12) and the large $`k`$-behavior (5.6) of the eigenfunction $`\varphi ^+`$. By using then the relation (5.8) it is not difficult to obtain

$$\gamma =\alpha _0+_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑x\alpha ^2.$$
(B.11)
The reduction constraint $`\theta `$ is here equivalent to $`\gamma \overline{\gamma }=2\alpha _0`$. With all this in hands, the above relation (B.8) does hold as $`k\mathrm{}`$ where the zeroth order term in the right hand side is indeed $`\alpha _0`$. One can check then that the next order is a vanishing identity as we have within the reduction

$$p_0+\overline{p}_02\alpha _0^2=0.$$
(B.12)