Global Small Amplitude Solutions of Nonlinear Hyperbolic Systems with a Critical Exponent under the Null Condition (Q4943690)

The initial value problem for the following system of nonlinear hyperbolic equations of two independent space variables is investigated: \[ \square_i u^i\equiv \partial^2_i u^i- c^2_i\Delta u^i= F^i(\partial u,\partial^2u)\quad\text{in }\mathbb{R}^2\times (0,\infty), \] \[ u^i(x, 0)= \varepsilon f^i(x),\quad \partial_t u^i(x,0)= \varepsilon g^i(x)\quad\text{in }\mathbb{R}^2, \] where \(i= 1,2,\dots, m\), \(c_i\) are positive constants, and \(\varepsilon> 0\) is a small parameter. The nonlinear terms \(F^i\) have a critical growth order with respect to \(\partial u\). It is shown that, in case where the propagation speeds \(c_i\) are distinct, under some null condition for the nonlinear terms \(F^i\) the above initial value problem has a unique \(C^\infty\) solution for any initial values \(f^i, g^i\in C^\infty_0(\mathbb{R}^2)\) if \(\varepsilon\) is sufficiently small. Unless the propagation speeds are all equal, some difficulty is caused by the fact that the operator \(L_j= x_j\partial_t+ t\partial_j\) does not commute with \(\square_i\) if \(c_i\neq 1\). The authors overcome this difficulty by using the operator \(S= t\partial_t+ r\partial_r\), \(r=|x|\), effectively.