Quasilinear Hyperbolic Systems and Dissipative Mechanisms

This book introduces the recent developments in the subject of quasilinear hyperbolic systems with dissipation, such as frictional damping, relaxation, viscosity and heat diffusion. The mathematical theory behind this subject is emphasized in two ways. One emphasis is based on understanding the influence of the dissipation mechanism on the qualitative behavior of solutions, such as the nonlinear diffusive phenomena caused by damping, and other phenomena (including phase transition) for the case with viscosity and heat diffusion. The second emphasis is to take the systems with the dissipation mechanism as an approach to approximating the corresponding system of quasilinear hyperbolic conservation laws - the zero-limit relaxation, or the zero-limit viscosity, and the related topic of nonlinear stability of waves.