On the static and dynamic study of oscillations for some nonlinear hyperbolic systems of conservation laws (Q1177840)

The main result for a \(2\times 2\) hyperbolic system having two linearly degenerate eigenvalues is, that oscillations cannot appear, but if they are present, they can propagate. The proof is partly formal, relying on compensated compactness ideas and the characteristics, and presents insight into the technical, resp., open problems. The extension to the system of gas dynamics in Eulerian coordinates is linked to the interesting question of the `separation of the wave cone and the constitutive manifold'. This reflects ideas of Ron DiPerna. As a conclusion: The property of the weak version of `ellipticity' explains why genuine nonlinear systems do not admit oscillating solutions, in contrast to the linearly degenerate case.