The slow erosion limit in a model of granular flow (Q717425)

The authors consider a 1D system of balance laws describing a granular medium. The physical system is composed of a pair of moving layers: a moving one on the top of thickness \(h\) and a standing one of thickness \(u\) at the bottom. The evolution is given by \[ \begin{cases} h_t=(h p)_x-(1-p)h,\\ p_t=(1-p_x)h,\end{cases} \tag{1} \] for \(t\geq 0\) and \(x\leq 0\), where \(h\geq 0\) and \(p:=u_x>0\). The moving layer (avalanche) is then sliding downhill with speed proportional to the slope of the standing layer. This strictly hyperbolic system is completed by initial data \[ (h(0,x)=\bar h(x), \;p(0,x)=\bar p(x)\;\;\text{for}\;x\leq 0, \tag{2} \] and boundary data \[ \phi(t,0)=F(t), \tag{3} \] where \(\phi\equiv ph\) is the flux of granular material. The following existence result is proved: ``Given \(M>0\) and \(p_0>0\) such that \[ TV\left\{\bar h\right\}<M, \;\;TV\left\{\bar p\right\}<M,\;\|\bar h\|_{L^1({\mathbb R}_-)}<M,\;\|\bar p -1\|_{L^1({\mathbb R}_-)}<M,\;\bar p(x)\geq p_0>0, \] for a constant \(M>0\), and also that \[ F(t)\geq 0,\;\;TV\left\{F\right\}<M,\;\|F\|_{L^1({\mathbb R}_+)}<M, \] suppose there exists \(\delta>0\) such that \[ \|\bar h\|_{L^{\infty}({\mathbb R}_-)}<\delta\;\text{and} \;\|F\|_{L^{\infty}({\mathbb R}_+)}<\delta, \] then the problem (1), (2), (3) is well posed and admits a global bounded weak solution of bounded total variation for all \(t\geq 0\).'' Moreover it is shown that, in the limit of zero limit for the thickness of the moving layer, the slope of the hill is given by an entropy solution of a scalar integro-differential equation.