Well-posedness for hyperbolic equations whose coefficients lose regularity at one point (Q2117287)

In the present paper the authors study the following strictly hyperbolic linear Cauchy problem: \begin{align*} & u_{tt}-\sum_{k,l=1}^n a_{kl}(t)u_{x_k x_l}=0,\,\,\,(t,x)\in (0,\infty)\times \mathbb{R}^n,\\ & \quad u(0,x)=u_0(x), \,\,\,u_t(0,x)=u_1(x),\,\,\, x \in \mathbb{R}^n. \end{align*} The matrix of coefficients \((a_{kl})_{k,l}\) is supposed to be real and symmetric. Setting \[ a(t,\xi):=\sum_{k,l=1}^n a_{kl}(t)\frac{\xi_k \xi_l}{|\xi|^2} \] the authors assume \[ 0<\lambda_0 \leq a(t,\xi) \leq \Lambda_0 <\infty\,\,\,\text{ for all }\,\,\, (t,x)\in (0,\infty)\times (\mathbb{R}^n \setminus \{0\}) \] with suitable constants \(\lambda_0\) and \(\Lambda_0\). The Lipschitz continuity of the coefficients \(a_{kl}\) is a threshold between well-posedness in Sobolev spaces (\(L^2\) well-posedness) and well-posedness in spaces of infinitely differentiable functions. The authors consider the case of non-Lipschitz coefficients. The regularity is ruled by a modulus of continuity \(\mu=\mu(\tau)\) with a constant which blows up for \(t \to +0\). This unboundedness is described by a function \(\nu=\nu(t)\). More in detail, the authors assume the condition \[ \big|a_{kl}(t+\tau)-a_{kl}(t)\big| \leq \frac{C}{\nu(t)} \mu(\tau),\,\,\, \tau \in [0,\tau_0],\,\,\,t,t+\tau \in (0,T] \] with a small positive \(\tau_0\). Then the authors prove Gevrey well-posedness and \(C^\infty\) well-posedness for special families of functions \((\mu,\nu)\). The proofs base on suitable estimates for approximated energies and Paley-Wiener theorem.