Jump discontinuities of semilinear,strictly hyperbolic systems in two variables: Creation and propagation

The creation and propagation of jump discontinuities in the solutions of semilinear strictly hyperbolic systems is studied in the case where the initial data has a discrete set, {x _i } _i ⁼¹ⁿ , of jump discontinuities. LetS be the smallest closed set which satisfies:

1. S is a union of forward characteristics.
2. S contains all the forward characteristics from the points {x _i } _i ⁼¹ⁿ .
3. if two forward characteristics inS intersect, then all forward characteristics from the point of intersection lie inS.

We prove that the singular support of the solution lies inS. We derive a sum law which gives a lower bound on the smoothness of the solution across forward characteristics from an intersection point. We prove a sufficient condition which guarantees that in many cases the lower bound is also an upper bound.