Justification of the NLS approximation for ion Euler-Poisson equation

Abstract: The nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger (NLS) equation can be derived as a formal approximation equation describing the envelopes of slowly modulated spatially and temporarily oscillating wave packet-like solutions to the ion Euler-Poisson equation. In this paper, we rigorously justify such approximation by giving error estimates in Sobolev norms between exact solutions of the ion Euler-Poisson system and the formal approximation obtained via the NLS equation. The justification consists of several difficulties such as the resonances and loss of regularity, due to the quasilinearity of the problem. These difficulties are overcome by introducing normal form transformation and cutoff functions and carefully constructed energy functional of the equation.