Subsonic solutions to compressible transonic potential problems for isothermal self-similar flows and steady flows (Q868841)

The flow of a two-dimensional compressible gas in which the velocity components can be described by a potential function \(\Phi\) is governed by a nonlinear partial second-order differential equation in \(\Phi\). The dependence of \(\Phi\) on time can be dropped by considering self-similar motions. Then the problem is converted into the equation in only two spatial variables for a new function \(\varphi\). The motion of the gas occurs in a bounded domain with Dirichlet data for the potential function \(\varphi\). Two cases are considered: isothermal self-similar flows and steady flows. In the first case the sound propagation velocity is constant, and hence the coefficients of the governing equation are also constants. Then it is possible to prove that the solution is subsonic inside the region. This tesult is obtained by establishing a priori bounds on the sound velocity \(c\). The non-isothermal, but steady flow, is more difficult. After imposing stronger conditions on the boundary data, it is proved that the motion is still subsonic in the region. In both cases Hopf's maximum principle is an essential tool.