Asymptotic behavior of smooth solutions for partially dissipative hyperbolic systems with a convex entropy

We study the asymptotic time behavior of global smooth solutions to general entropy, dissipative, hyperbolic systems of balance laws in m space dimensions, under the Shizuta‐Kawashima condition. We show that these solutions approach a constant equilibrium state in the L^p‐norm at a rate O(t^{? (m/2)(1 ? 1/p)}) as t → ∞ for p ∈ [min{m, 2}, ∞]. Moreover, we can show that we can approximate, with a faster order of convergence, the conservative part of the solution in terms of the linearized hyperbolic operator for m ≥ 2, and by a parabolic equation, in the spirit of Chapman‐Enskog expansion in every space dimension. The main tool is given by a detailed analysis of the Green function for the linearized problem. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.