A boundary value problem for first order strictly hyperbolic systems on the plane

Abstract

Boundary value problems, more precisely Dirichlet’s problem for a string equation, or for an equivalent system of first order equations have been first studied in the first half of last century ([1] – [9]). The interest to these problems has been big ever since, see e.g. [10, 11]. All these papers have looked into the boundary value problems in a finite domains in the plane. Strictly hyperbolic systems with more than two characteristics in infinite domains, have been studied in [12, 13]. The question of boundary value problems for a hyperbolic system of equations with more than two characteristics in finite domain on the plane, when a boundary conditions are prescribed at a whole boundary of the domain, evidently remained open. In this paper, we study this problem in a finite domain on the plane for a hyperbolic system of equations of the first order with constant coefficients and with three mutually distinct characteristics.