No label defined (Q4247948)

The authors consider the quasilinear strictly hyperbolic system of conservation laws \[ \frac{\partial u}{\partial t}+\frac{\partial f(u)}{\partial x}=0, \] where \(u\in \mathbb{R}^n\) is an unknown vector function of \((t,x)\), \(f(u)\) is a given \(C^3\) vector function of \(u\). In the paper the authors suppose that the system is linear degenerate in the sense of P. Lax and consider the generalized Riemann problem with piecewise \(C^1\) initial data: \[ t=0: \quad u=\begin{cases} u_l(x),& x\leq 0,\\ u_r(x),& x\geq 0. \end{cases} \] The authors prove the global existence and uniqueness of piecewise \(C^1\) solution \(u(t,x)\) containing only \(n\) contact small amplitude discontinuities for this problem with small decay initial data. This solution has a global structure similar to the structure of the similarity solution \(u=U(\frac{x}{t})\) of the corresponding Riemann problem with the piecewise constant initial data. The similarity solution \(u=U(\frac{x}{t})\) of the piecewise constant Riemann problem has a global nonlinear structural stability.