Canonical form and symmetry group of systems of conservation laws (Q2434366)

The author studies the relationship between entropies and symmetries of systems of conservation laws. The classical symmetric form is extended to systems with multiple entropies, and it is shown how symmetry properties of the system are reflected by those of the symmetric dependent variables and the related potential functions. As a consequence it turns out that prescribing the symmetry group severely restricts the possible forms of the system. As an application, the author studies the problem of finding a reduced form with the same symmetry group for a given system. In the last sections more specific classes of systems are studied in greater detail. This includes in particular a discussion of the Lundquist system as a model of magnetohydrodynamic flow.