On the theory of entropy solutions of nonlinear degenerate parabolic equations

We consider a second-order nonlinear degenerate parabolic equation in the case when the flux vector and the nonstrictly increasing diffusion function are merely continuous. In the case of zero diffusion, this equation degenerates into a first order quasilinear equation (conservation law). It is known that in the general case under consideration an entropy solution (in the sense of Kruzhkov–Carrillo) of the Cauchy problem can be non-unique. Therefore, it is important to study special entropy solutions of the Cauchy problem and to find additional conditions on the input data of the problem that are sufficient for uniqueness. In this paper, we obtain some new results in this direction. Namely, the existence of the largest and the smallest entropy solutions of the Cauchy problem is proved. With the help of this result, the uniqueness of the entropy solution with periodic initial data is established. More generally, the comparison principle is proved for entropy sub- and super-solutions, in the case when at least one of the initial functions is periodic. The obtained results are generalization of the results known for conservation laws to the parabolic case.