A $\dbar$-steepest descent method for oscillatory Riemann-Hilbert problems

Abstract: We study the asymptotic behavior of Riemann-Hilbert problems (RHP) arising in the AKNS hierarchy of integrable equations. Our analysis is based on the $\dbar$-steepest descent method. We consider RHPs arising from the inverse scattering transform of the AKNS hierarchy with $H^{1,1}(\R)$ initial data. The analysis will be divided into three regions: fast decay region, oscillating region and self-similarity region (the Painlev\'e region). The resulting formulas can be directly applied to study the long-time asymptotic of the solutions of integrable equations such as NLS, mKdV and their higher-order generalizations.