The Cauchy problem for a singular conservation law with measures as initial conditions (Q1270676)

We investigate the Cauchy problem for a singular conservation law of the form \[ {\partial u\over\partial t}+{\partial\over\partial x} \Biggl({u^m\over m}\Biggr)= 0\tag{1} \] in \(Q= \mathbb{R}\times (0,+\infty)\) with initial condition \[ u(x,0)= \mu(x),\tag{2} \] where \(0< m<1\), and \(\mu= \mu(x)\) is a nonnegative finite Borel measure in \(\mathbb{R}\). A nonnegative function \(u: Q\mapsto \mathbb{R}\) is said to be a solution of the Cauchy problem (1)--(2), if \(u\) satisfies the following conditions: For all \(\tau\) and \(T\) with \(0<\tau< T<+\infty\), we have \[ u\in L^\infty(0, T; L^1(\mathbb{R}))\cap C(0, T; L^1(\mathbb{R}))\cap L^\infty(\mathbb{R}\times (\tau, T)). \] For any \(\phi\in C^\infty_0(Q)\) with \(\phi\geq 0\), we have \[ \int\int_Q\Biggl(| u- k|{\partial\phi\over\partial t}+ \Biggl|{u^m\over m}- {k^m\over m}\Biggr| {\partial\phi\over\partial x}\Biggr)dx dt\geq 0\qquad \forall k\in\mathbb{R}. \] For any \(\psi\in C^\infty_0(\mathbb{R})\), we have \[ \text{ess }\lim_{t\to 0^+} \int_{\mathbb{R}} u(x, t)\psi(x)dx= \int_{\mathbb{R}}\psi\mu. \] Our main results are the following theorems. Theorem 1. Let \(\mu\) be a nonnegative finite Borel measure on \(\mathbb{R}\). Then the Cauchy problem (1)--(2) has a unique solution in \(Q\). Theorem 2. Let \(u\) be a solution of the Cauchy problem (1)--(2). Then there exists a positive constant \(\gamma_1\) depending only on \(m\) and \(M\) such that \[ u(x, t)\leq{\gamma_1\over t^{1/m}}\quad\text{for a.e. }(x,t)\in Q. \] Theorem 3. Let \(u\) be a solution of the Cauchy problem (1)--(2). Then we have \(\int_{\mathbb{R}} u(x,t)dx= M\), \(\forall t\in(0,+\infty)\). Theorem 4. Let \(u\) be a solution of the Cauchy problem (1)--(2). If \(M>0\), then \(u\) has the following properties: For all \(x\in\mathbb{R}\), we have \[ \int_{(-\infty, x]} u(y,t)dy\leq \int_{(-\infty, x]}\mu. \] For a.e. \((x,t)\in (r(t),+ \infty)\times (0,+\infty)\), we have \(u(x,t)\geq \gamma_3\exp[- xt^{1/m}]\), where \(r(t)= \gamma_4(1+ t^{1/m})\), and \(\gamma_3\) and \(\gamma_4\) are positive constants depending only on \(m\) and \(M\).