Hyperbolic limit of the Jin‐Xin relaxation model

We consider the special Jin‐Xin relaxation model We assume that the initial data ( ) are sufficiently smooth and close to ( ) in L^∞ and have small total variation. Then we prove that there exists a solution ( ) with uniformly small total variation for all t ≥ 0, and this solution depends Lipschitz‐continuously in the L¹ norm with respect to time and the initial data. Letting , the solution converges to a unique limit, providing a relaxation limit solution to the quasi‐linear, nonconservative system These limit solutions generate a Lipschitz semigroup on a domain containing the functions with small total variation and close to . This is precisely the Riemann semigroup determined by the unique Riemann solver compatible with (0.1). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.