On a nonlocal hyperbolic conservation law arising from a gradient constraint problem

Abstract

In some models involving nonlinear conservation laws, physical mechanisms exist which prevent the formation of shocks. This gives rise to conservation laws with a constraint on the gradient of the solution. We approach this problem by studying a related conservation law with a spatial nonlocal term. We prove existence, uniqueness and stability of solution of the Cauchy problem for this nonlocal conservation law. In turn, this allows us to provide a notion of solution to the conservation law with a gradient constraint. The proof of existence is based on a time-stepping technique, and an $L^1$-contraction estimate follows from stability results of Karlsen and Risebro.