Generalized characteristics in hyperbolic systems of conservation laws (Q750750)

In the paper the Cauchy problem for a strictly hyperbolic nonlinear system of conservation laws is considered. Because the solutions of this problem are generally discontinuous in a finite time, they may exist in the large as weak solutions. The author's goal is to make a first step in directly studying those. It is known that behaviour of the solutions in question can be described in terms of their generalized characteristics and entropy estimates. In particular, any generalized characteristic is proved to propagate either with appropriate classical characteristic speed or with appropriate shock speed. In addition, the estimates of the second derivatives of entropy with respect to the Riemann invariants are obtained for the genuinely nonlinear system of two conservation laws. References, 17 in number, fully cover the stated problem.