A geometric study of shocks in equations that change type

In this paper we validate the generalized geometric entropy criterion for admissibility of shocks in systems which change type. This condition states that a shock between a state in a hyperbolic region and one in a nonhyperbolic region is admissible if the Lax geometric entropy criterion, based on the number of characteristics entering the shock, holds, where now the real part of a complex characteristic replaces the characteristic speed itself. We test this criterion by a nonlinear inviscid perturbation. We prove that the perturbed Cauchy problem in the elliptic region has a solution for a uniform time if the data lie in a suitable class of analytic functions and show that under small perturbations of the data a perturbed shock and a perturbed solution in the hyperbolic region exist, also for a uniform time.