On local solutions of a middly degenerate hyperbolic equation (Q1125299)

In this paper existence and uniqueness of local solutions for the initial boundary problem associated to a second order hyperbolic equation are established. More precisely, the following problem is considered: \[ \begin{gathered} u_{tt}-M\left(\int_\Omega|Du|^2dx\right)a(x)\Delta u=0\qquad \text{in }\Omega\times\mathbb R_+,\\ u(x,t)\bigl|_{\partial\Omega}=0,\\ u(x,0)=u_0(x)\in H^2(\Omega)\cap H^1_0(\Omega),\qquad u_t(x,0)=u_1(x)\in H^1_0(\Omega), \end{gathered} \] where \(\Omega\) is a bounded open domain of \(\mathbb R^n\) with smooth boundary, \(M:\mathbb R_+\to\mathbb R_+\) is continuous with \(M(0)=0\), and \(a:\Omega\to\mathbb R\) is such that \(0<a_0\leq a(x)\leq a_1<\infty\). The main result is proved under reasonable assumptions and without any smallness condition on the size of the initial data.