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On linear instability of solitary waves for the nonlinear Dirac equation

We consider the nonlinear Dirac equation, also known as the Soler model: $i\p\sb tψ=-iα\cdot \nabla ψ+m βψ-f(ψ\sp\ast βψ) βψ$, $ψ(x,t)\in\mathbb{C}^{N}$, $x\in\mathbb{R}^n$, $n\le 3$, $f\in C\sp 2(\R)$, where $α_j$, $j = 1,...,n$, and $β$ are $N \times N$ Hermitian matrices which satisfy $α_j^2=β^2=I_N$, $α_j β+βα_j=0$, $α_j α_k + α_k α_j =2 δ_{jk} I_N$. We study the spectral stability of solitary wave solutions $ϕ(x)e^{-iωt}$. We study the point spectrum of linearizations at solitary waves that bifurcate from NLS solitary waves in the limit $ω\to m$, proving that if $k>2/n$, then one positive and one negative eigenvalue are present in the spectrum of the linearizations at these solitary waves with $ω$ sufficiently close to $m$, so that these solitary waves are linearly unstable. The approach is based on applying the Rayleigh--Schroedinger perturbation theory to the nonrelativistic limit of the equation. The results are in formal agreement with the Vakhitov--Kolokolov stability criterion.