Uniqueness of admissible solutions of the Riemann problem for a system of conservation laws of mixed type (Q2276670)

The author studies the existence and uniqueness of weak solutions to the Riemann problem for a system of conservation laws of mixed type. The system considered here is the so-called p-system \[ v_ t+p(u)_ x=0,\quad u_ t-v_ x=0 \] which describes the one dimensional isothermal motion of a compressible elastic fluid or solid. The Riemann problem for this system is the initial value problem with data of the form: \[ (u,v)|_{t=0}=\quad (u_+,v_+),\quad x>0;\quad =(u_ - ,v_ -),\quad x<0. \] The initial value problem may have many weak solutions and so, one needs some admissibility criteria for selecting the mathematically or physically relevant solution. When the p(u) is decreasing and concave, the system is genuinely nonlinear and there are four equivalent admissibility criteria which guarantee the uniqueness, that is, the shock (E)-, viscosity-, entropy-, and entropy rate criterion. The author generalizes these criteria to use for a mixed type system where p(u) is not monotone. The generalized shock (E)-, generalized viscosity-, and the generalized entropy-criterion are introduced. In case that p(u) is of van der Waals fluid type the author proves the existence and uniqueness of an admissible weak solution for the Riemann problem which satisfies the generalized shock (E)-, generalized viscosity-, and generalized entropy-criterion. The solution is constructed in an explicit way for given initial data \((u_{\pm},v_{\pm})\), which consists of constant states, rarefaction waves and shock discontinuities. For some \((u_{\pm},v_{\pm})\) the solution contains a contact discontinuity or shock discontinuity with speed zero, not appearing in the case of genuinely nonlinear p-system. According to the generalized shock (E)- and generalized viscosity criterion, different types of statement (type I and type II) are given. The existence and uniqueness of the admissible type I and type II weak solutions are proved. Finally is shown that these solutions of two types are identical.