47
Lecture
4.
The Development
of
Jump
Discontinuities
in
Nonlinear
Hyperbolic
Systems
of
Equations
1.
General
Considerations
We
shall
consider
initial
value
problems
leading
to
the
propagation
of
a
wavefront
in
quasi-linear
systems
of
equations
of
the
form
(1)
where U
is
a column
vector
with
the
n components u
l•
u
2
,
..•
,
un'
A
is
an
n
x n
matrix
and B
is
an n
element
column
vector;
A and B
are
assumed
to
depend on x, t and U. The
system
(1)
will
be
considered
to be
hyperbolic
and so
all
the
eigenvalues
of
A
are
real
and A
possesses
a
full
set
of
linearly
independent
eigenvectors.
The
left
eigenvectors
of
A,
1(i,k)
with
k •
1,2
•••.
,s
corresponding
to
the
eigenvalue
A(i)
with
multiplicity
s
satisfy
the
equations
1(i.k)
A •
A(i)1{i,k)
•
k •
1.2,
••••
8 •
(2)
They may be
used
to
display
the
equations
(1)
in
characteristic
form and
to
introduce
the
n
characteristic
curves
e(i)
as
follows.
Pre-multiply
equation
(1)
by
1(i)
and,
assuming
for
the
moment
that
the
n
eigenvalues
of
A
are
distinct,
we
obtain
n
equations
written
in
characteristic
form
which,
by
virtue
of
(2).
become
operator
a~
+
A(i)
a:
in
the
ith
equation
represents
ith
characteristic
curve
e(i)
determined
by
differentiation
along
the
1
(i)
(U + A
(i)
t
where
b(i)
•
1(i)B.
U ) +
b(i)
x
The
o
(i
1,2,
•••
,n)
(3)
C
(i ) • dx •
,(i)
•
dt
1\ •
We
shall
be
concerned
later
with
the
propagation
of
a
disturbance
or
wave
(4)
into
a
state
which
is
either
known (and
non-constant)
or
is
constant.
when
the
line
bordering
these
two
states,
the
wavefront,
is
determined
by a
relation
of
the
form
Hx.t)
•
O.
(5)
The
wavefront
~
• 0
is
assumed
here
to
be a
line
acrosa
which
the
solution