Propagation of analytic and Gevrey regularity for a class of semi-linear weakly hyperbolic equations (Q1915406)

Let \(\Omega\) be an open set in \(\mathbb{R}^{n+ 1}= \mathbb{R}_t\times \mathbb{R}^n_x\) (\(t\) the ``time variable''), \(\Omega_+= \Omega\cap \{t> 0\}\), \(\overline \Omega_+= \Omega\cap \{t\geq 0\}\), \(\Omega_0= \Omega\cap \{t= 0\}\) and let \(u(t, x)\) be a real solution of a semilinear equation \[ P_m(t, x, \partial_{t, x}) u+ G(t, x, u^{(a)})_{|a|\leq m- 1}= 0\quad \text{in } \Omega_+\;(u^{(a)}= \partial^a_{t, x} u),\tag{1} \] where \(G\) is an analytic function of its arguments and \(P_m(t, x, \partial_{t, x})\) is a homogeneous differential operator of order \(m\geq 2\) with analytic coefficients in \(\Omega\) which is hyperbolic with respect to the hypersurfaces \(t= t_0\). We are concerned with the problem of the propagation of analytic regularity of \(u\) in a domain of influence \(D\subset \overline\Omega_+\) provided that the Cauchy data are analytic functions in \(\overline\omega\), \(\omega\) a open bounded subset of \(\mathbb{R}^n\) such that \(\overline \omega\subset \Omega_0\) and \(D\cap \{t= 0\}\subset \omega\). Here we consider the case where (1) is a weakly hyperbolic equation of the form \(\partial^m_t u+ G(t, x, u^{(a)})_{|a|\leq m- 1}= 0\), \(m\geq 2\), and prove that the solution is analytic in every cylinder \([0, T]\times \omega\) contained in \(\overline\Omega_+\), if \(u\) is assumed to be in some Gevrey class of order \(\sigma_1\) smaller than \(1/\varrho\) with an index \(\varrho\leq 1- 1/m\) which is determined by the derivatives of \(u\) that really appear as arguments of \(G\). In fact we shall prove a more general result considering also the propagation of the regularity of \(u\) in Gevrey classes when \(G\) and the Cauchy data are not analytic but Gevrey functions of order \(\sigma\in ]1, \sigma_1[\).