The influence of the lower order terms on the property of the hyperbolic system (Q805901)

Linear hyperbolic systems of two differential equations of second order with constant coefficients for two unknown functions in two independent variables are divided into four types. The authors consider the influence of the lower order terms on the properties of these systems. For the hyperbolic systems without multiple characteristics, a strange property is proved: if and only if the coefficients of the first order terms satisfy a suitable condition, a boundary value problem of the systems in a bounded domain possesses a classical solution which is unique in a sense. On the other hand, the hyperbolic systems with multiple characteristics are divided into three types. It is proved that the Cauchy problem and the mixed initial and boundary value problem which are well-posed for the systems adding some lower order terms are ill-posed for the systems that have just the principal parts, which is due to the parabolic property of multiple characteristics of the systems.