On some diffusive waves in non-linear heat conduction

We address the non-linear heat conduction in the presence of absorption for the case of spherical symmetry geometry. The non-linear model is based on both a temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and a non-linear generalization of the Fourier law. The governing equation belongs to a class of degenerate parabolic equations. We obtain similarity solutions in closed form for the Cauchy problem corresponding to an instantaneous point source problem. We investigate the non-linear effects on the propagation of the temperature distrubances. We find that in certain cases the temperature distribution displays travelling wave characteristics. The solution for the Cauchy problem is recovered by considering a suitable first boundary value problem.