Abstract
The method of characteristics is applied in studying general quasilinear partial differential equations of first order sich as, for example, convection or transport equations. It is shown how the notion of characteristics allows for reducing the considerations to those for nonlinear systems of ordinary differential equations. An application to the continuity equation describing mass conservation completes this chapter.
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References
M.S. Baouendi, C. Goulaouic, Cauchy problems with characteristic initial hypersurface. Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 26, 455–475 (1973)
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T. Mandai, Characteristic Cauchy problems for some non-Fuchsian partial differential operators. J. Math. Soc. Jpn. 45, 511–545 (1993)
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Ebert, M.R., Reissig, M. (2018). Method of Characteristics. In: Methods for Partial Differential Equations. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66456-9_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66456-9_6
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Online ISBN: 978-3-319-66456-9
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