Scattering from infinity for semilinear wave equations satisfying the null condition or the weak null condition

Abstract

We show global existence backward from scattering data at infinity for semilinear wave equations satisfying the null condition or the weak null condition. Semilinear terms satisfying the weak null condition appear in many equations in physics. The scattering data is given in terms of the radiation field, although in the case of the weak null condition there is an additional logarithmic term in the asymptotic behavior that has to be taken into account. Our results are sharp in the sense that the solution has the same spatial decay as the radiation field does along null infinity, which is assumed to decay at a rate that is consistent with the forward problem. The proof uses a higher order asymptotic expansion together with a new fractional Morawetz estimate with strong weights at infinity.