Riemann problem for kinematical conservation laws and geometrical features of nonlinear wavefronts

A pair of kinematical conservation laws (KCL) in a ray coordinatesystem (,t) are the basic equations governing the evolutionof a moving curve in two space dimensions. We first study elementarywave solutions and then the Riemann problem for KCL when themetric g, associated with the coordinate designating differentrays, is an arbitrary function of the velocity of propagationm of the moving curve. We assume that m>1 (m is appropriatelynormalized), for which the system of KCL becomes hyperbolic.We interpret the images of the elementary wave solutions inthe (,t)-plane to the (x,y)-plane as elementary shapes of themoving curve (or a nonlinear wavefront when interpreted in aphysical system) and then describe their geometrical properties.Solutions of the Riemann problem with different initial datagive the shapes of the nonlinear wavefront with different combinationsof elementary shapes. Finally, we study all possible interactionsof elementary shapes.