Characteristic decompositions and interactions of rarefaction waves of 2-D Euler equations (Q619868)

The authors study the two-dimensional isentropic compressible Euler system. Initial data are constant along any ray starting in the origin. The solution is assumed to depend on self-similar variables \((x/t, y/t)\). The focus is on interaction of two arbitrary rarefaction waves for the self-similar solution. The direct approach (based on studying characteristics) is used and compared with the hodograph transformation. Properties of the classical solution to the problem of gas expansion are revealed using this approach.