Partial differential equations of the first-order

Abstract

Although the major focus of these introductory volumes is on linear partial differential equations of second- and higher-order, it is instructive to examine some aspects of first-order partial differential equations. These can arise in a number of engineering applications including the study of waves in shallow water, traffic flow, gas dynamics, isothermal plug flow reactors in chemical engineering and in the analysis of the thermal efficiency of heat exchangers.