The influence of lower terms on the well-posedness of the formulation of characteristic problems for third-order hyperbolic equations. (Q1889564)

A third-order hyperbolic equation of general form with dominated lower terms is considered in the plane of independent variables \(x\) and \(y\): \[ Lu:=u_{xxy}+ a^{2,0}u_{xx}+a^{1,1} u_{xy}+a^{1,0}u_x+a^{0,1} u_y+a^{0,0}u=f,\tag{1} \] where \(a^{i,j}\), \(i=0, 1,2\), \(j=0,1\), \(i+j\neq 3\), and \(f\) are prescribed real functions, but \(u\) is the unknown real function. The lines \(y=\)const form the double family of characteristics of Eq. (1) and the lines \(x=\)const -- the single family. The characteristic rays of Eq. (1) are \[ \gamma_1:y=0,\;0\leq x<\infty,\;\gamma_2: x=0,\;0\leq y<\infty, \] and let \(D\) be the domain bounded by the rays \(\gamma_1\) and \(\gamma_2\) and located in the angle \(x>0\), \(y>0\). If \(P_1^0\) and \(P_2^0\) are the points of intersection of \(\gamma_1\) and \(\gamma_2\), respectively, with the characteristics \(L_1(P^0):x=x_0\) and \(L_2(P^0):y=y_0\) issuing from an arbitrarily taken point \(P^0(x_0, y_0)\in D\), then Eq. (1) is studied in the rectangular domain \[ D_0:= \bigl\{(x,y):0<x<x_0,0<y<y_0\bigr\} \] bounded by the characteristics \(x=0\), \(x=x_0\) and \(y=0\), \(y=y_0\). A general characteristics problem of Goursat type for Eq. (1) is considered in the following setting: it is required to find the regular solution \(u\) in \(D_0\) of Eq. (1) satisfying the following boundary conditions on the closed intervals \(OP_1^0\) and \(0P_2^0\) of the rays \(\gamma_1\) and \(\gamma_2\): \[ (M_1u_{xx}+ N_1u_{xy}+P_1u_x+Q_1u_y+S_1u) |_{OP_1^0}=f_1,\tag{2} \] \[ (M_2u_{xx}+N_2u_{xy}+P_2u_x+Q_2u_y+S_2u) |_{OP_2^0}= f_2,\tag{3} \] \[ (M_3u_{xx}+N_3u_{xy}+P_3u_x+Q_3u_y+S_3u) |_{OP_3^0}=f_1,\tag{4} \] where \(M_i,N_i,P_i,Q_i,S_i,f_i\), \(i=1,2, 3\), are prescribed real functions. A regular solution of Eq. (1) by definition is a function \(u\) which is continuous on \(D_0\) together with its partial derivatives \(D^i_xD^j_yu\), \(i=0,1,2\), \(j=0,1,i+j>0\), \(D_x:=\partial/ \partial x\), \(D_y:= \partial/ \partial y\), and satisfying Eq. (1) in \(D_0\). In the paper it is studied the influence of the lower terms contained in the equation, as well as those in the boundary conditions, on the well-posedness of the considered problem.