Large data global well-posedness for a one-dimensional quasilinear wave equation

Abstract

In this paper, we prove global well-posedness with large initial data for the one-dimensional quasilinear wave equation $$ u_{tt}=c(u)^2u_{xx}, \qquad (t,x)\in (0,T)\times\R, $$ where \(c\) is a positive, bounded, monotonically increasing function with bounded derivative. This result gives a partial resolution of an open problem posed by Glassey, Hunter and Zheng on the global existence of smooth solutions to this equation for large initial data. Our proof is based on upper and lower estimates for the Riemann variables via a new comparison principle.