Generalized solutions of quasi-linear hyperbolic systems of partial differential-functional equations (Q2367624)

The hyperbolic functional differential equation \[ A(x,y,z_{(x,y)})[D_ x z(x,y)+ \rho(x,y,z_{(x,y)}) D_ y z(x,y)]= f(x,y,z_{(x,y)})\tag{1} \] is considered, where \(A\) is a matrix-valued function defined on \(\Omega= [0,a_ 0]\times \mathbb{R}^ n\times C(B,\mathbb{R}^ m)\), \(B=[-b_ 0,0]\times [-b,b]\) and \((z_{(x,y)})(t,s)= z(x+ t,y+s)\). The existence and uniqueness of solutions is proved by defining the bicharacteristic functions \(g_ i(t,x,y)= h_ i(t,x,y)+ y\), where \(h\) belongs to an appropriate set \(K\). The operator \(T_ z\) is defined on \(K\) by \[ T_ z h= \int^ t_ x \rho_ i(\tau,h_ i(\tau,x,y)+ y, z_{(\tau,h_ i(\tau,x,y)+ y)}) d\tau \] and it is shown that \(T_ z\) has a fixed point which is the solution of \(D_ t\eta= \rho_ i(t,\eta,z_{(t,\eta)})\). This enables the authors to write (1) (roughly speaking) in the form \(AD_ x z= -AD_ t z+f\) and so \[ z= A^{-1}\left(D_ x z(0)+ \int^ x_ 0 (-AD_ t z+ f) dt\right):= Uz. \] Then \(U\) is shown to have a fixed point.