Well-posedness for a class of $n\times n$ hyperbolic systems and shock stability for the viscous approximation

Abstract

We establish the global well-posedness of weak solutions to the Cauchy problem for a broad class of multi-dimensional $n\times n$ Keyfitz-Kranzer type systems with homogeneous flux. Our proof relies on a novel viscous approximation that yields the necessary compactness estimates. By exploiting the specific structure of this proposed approximation, we derive a priori uniform $L^{\infty}$ bounds and prove the $L^1_{loc}$ precompactness of the sequence of approximate solutions. This framework allows us to rigorously justify the vanishing viscosity limit. Furthermore, under suitable assumptions on the initial data, we employ the relative entropy method to analyze the $L^2$-time decay of large perturbations of the viscous shock, up to a dynamical shift.