The Cauchy problem for hyperbolic systems with multiple characteristics (Q1275921)

This article is devoted to investigate a necessary condition for the well-posedness of the Cauchy problem for a class of first-order hyperbolic differential \(N\times N\) systems, \(L= L_1(x,D)+ L_0(x)\), with multiple characteristics. For \(p\), a characteristic point of \(\text{det }L(x,\xi)\) of multiplicity \(r\), assume that rank \(L_1(p)= N-1\). Then the main result is that there is a scalar hyperbolic differential operator \(P\) with principal part \(\text{det }L(x,\xi)\), such that, if the Cauchy problem for \(L\) is correctly posed, then \(P\) must satisfy the Ivrii-Petkov conditions at \(p\) of multiplicity \(r\).