The initial value problem for a third order dispersive equation on the two-dimensional torus

We present the necessary and sufficient condition for the $L^2$-well-posedness of the initial problem for a third order linear dispersive equation on the two dimensional torus. Birkhoff’s method of asymptotic solutions is used to prove the necessity. Some properties of a system for quadratic algebraic equations associated to the principal symbol play crucial role in proving the sufficiency.