A convergent finite difference scheme for the Ostrovsky-Hunter equation on a bounded domain (Q512848)

The development of a numerical scheme for the Ostrovsky-Hunter equation along with an analysis of its convergence has been missing from the literature. As a consequence, this paper designs a numerical scheme for the Ostrovsky-Hunter equation on a bounded domain with periodic boundary conditions and a general flux while proving its convergence. Instead of discretizing the equation directly, the equation is rewritten as a system of partial differential equations, introducing a function which must be further specified by an additional constraint. The authors construct a class of finite difference schemes based on the classical monotone schemes for conservation laws. They employ central differences for the nonlocal source term on the right-hand side, and prove that the numerical solutions converge to the unique entropy solution of the system with rate \(\frac{1}{2}\). In this manner they not only confirm the correctness of the schemes, but also provide an existence proof of periodic entropy solutions. The existence and uniqueness proof in the paper extends the results of previous authors to bounded domains with periodic boundary conditions. A predominant difference is that the total variation of solutions of the system considered stays bounded on the domain, which is not true for unbounded domains. As such, the Kolmogorov compactness theorem and Kružkov technique of doubling of variables to show existence and uniqueness of bounded entropy solutions may be applied -- upon the assumption that certain conditions on the flux and initial data are maintained.