The Cauchy problem for strictly hyperbolic operators with non-absolutely continuous coefficients. (Q1411732)

The author is interested in the Cauchy problem \[ Pu:= \partial_t u^2- \sum^n_{k,l=1} a_{kl}(t, x)\partial_{x_k}\partial_{x_i} u+ \sum^n_{k=1} b_k(t, x)\partial_{x_k} u+ b_{n+1}(t, x)u= 0, \] in the strip \([0, T]\times \mathbb{R}^n\). The operator \(P\) is assumed to be strictly hyperbolic, but with a non-regular behaviour of the coefficients of the principal part near \(t= 0\). Here non-regular means, that \(\partial_t a_{kl}\) is not integrable with respect to \(t\) on \((0, T)\). The non-regular behaviour of \(a_{kl}\) will be described by the condition \(| t^q\partial_t a_{kl}(t, x)|\leq C\) on \((0,T]\times \mathbb{R}^n_x\). If \(q= 1\) \((q> 1)\), then it is reasonable to study \(C^\infty\) well-posedness with a finite loss of derivatives (Gevrey well-posedness). Together with symbol like assumptions for the symbol of \(P\) the author introduces zones, classes of symbols related to these zones, some reduction procedure to a system of first-order (in the Gevrey case he applies conjugation by pseudo-differential operators of infinite order). A key idea (which was taken over later by several authors) is the application of sharp Gårding's inequality (in \(C^\infty\) case). This idea reduces a Cauchy problem with loss of derivatives to such a one without loss.