Stability of steady solution of ablation equation (Q1075896)

We do not solve the problems of ablation of bodies completely, but confine ourselves to considering a more particular case: does the shape of the body return with time to the steady shape if its initial perturbation is small? In the general case, the answer to this question can only be negative, since two steady bodies with nearly equal dimensions \(L_ 1\) and \(L_ 2=L_ 1+\epsilon,\quad \epsilon \ll 1\), will burn at nearly equal speeds \(V_ 1\) and \(V_ 2\) and will never coincide. Therefore, in formulating the problem of the stability of steady shape bodies, we at once assume that the initial perturbations of the shape are either restricted to a finite leading section of surface or are damped (at the necessary rate) at a great distance from the nose. The problem amounts to the solution of a linearized ablation equation. It turns out that the Cauchy problem for this equation in the plane case \((\nu =0)\) has a set of solutions which depend on the arbitrary distribution of the unknown function along the axis. But the physically sensible regular solution is unique, and finding it reduces to solving an integral equation. In this case symmetric and asymmetric perturbations are considered and it is shown that perturbations which are initially localized on the leading part of the body are damped. The axisymmetric problem \((\nu =1)\) has a unique solution.