Weak solutions to a nonlinear variational wave equation and some related problems

In this paper we present some results on the global existence of weak solutions to a nonlinear variational wave equation and some related problems. We first introduce the main tools, the L ^p Young measure theory and related compactness results, in the first section. Then we use the L ^p Young measure theory to prove the global existence of dissipative weak solutions to the asymptotic equation of the nonlinear wave equation, and comment on its relation to Camassa-Holm equations in the second section. In the third section, we prove the global existence of weak solutions to the original nonlinear wave equation under some restrictions on the wave speed. In the last section, we present global existence of renormalized solutions to two-dimensional model equations of the asymptotic equation, which is also the so-called vortex density equation arising from sup-conductivity.