Parabolic problems which are ill-posed in the zero dissipation limit (Q1876785)

The Cauchy problem is studied for the system of conservation laws \( v_t + (H(v))_x = \nu v_{xx} + F(x,t),\;v(x,0)=f_1(x),\;x\in R,\;t\geq 0.\) This is a viscous model of two-phase flows, where \(0<\nu\ll 1\) is the viscosity. The considered system is ill-posed in the limit of zero dissipation (i.e. when \(\nu\rightarrow 0\)). The most attention is paid to the case when the characteristics are complex. The main result of the paper shows that in the linear case the principle of frozen coefficients is applicable if the coefficients are smooth. Using the Burgers equation as an example, the authors show how the results for linear problems can be extended to nonlinear problems. A few linear and nonlinear examples show that in the case where the coefficients vary on a scale that is proportional to viscosity \(\nu\) the problem need not be unstable even if the characteristics are complex.