Subsonic solutions to a shock diffraction problem by a convex cornered wedge for the pressure gradient system

Abstract

We establish the global existence of subsonic solutions to a two dimensional Riemann problem governed by a self-similar pressure gradient system for shock diffraction by a convex cornered wedge. Since the boundary of the subsonic region consists of a transonic shock and a part of a sonic circle, the governing equation becomes a free boundary problem for nonlinear degenerate elliptic equation of second order with a degenerate oblique derivative boundary condition. We also obtain the optimal \begin{document}$ C^{0,1} $\end{document} -regularity of the solutions across the degenerate sonic boundary.