Global structure instability of Riemann solutions of quasilinear hyperbolic systems of conservation laws: Rarefaction waves

Abstract

This work is a continuation of our previous work (Kong, J. Differential Equations 188 (2003) 242–271) “Global structure stability of Riemann solutions of quasilinear hyperbolic systems of conservation laws: shocks and contact discontinuities”. In the present paper we prove the global structure instability of the Lax's Riemann solution u = U ( x t ) , containing rarefaction waves, of general n × n quasilinear hyperbolic system of conservation laws. Combining the results in (Kong, 2003), we prove that the Lax's Riemann solution of general n × n quasilinear hyperbolic system of conservation laws is globally structurally stable if and only if it contains only non-degenerate shocks and contact discontinuities, but no rarefaction waves and other weak discontinuities.